A cliffhanger is a moment in a story, film, series, or even a close game that leaves you excited and nervous because you do not know what will happen — and you may have to wait a long time to find out. An episode ends with the hero in danger; a final is tied with seconds left. The name paints a picture: someone left hanging from a cliff, fate not yet decided. Writers have used this trick for a long time. People often trace the word to a 1870s magazine serial of Thomas Hardy’s novel A Pair of Blue Eyes, in which a character, Henry Knight, is left hanging off a cliff; Hardy had heard a real childhood story like that from his wife Emma. Today the “cliff” is almost always only a feeling. Friends also use it lightly in real life when you stop a story too soon. It is informal and very common in talk about shows and sport.