On a positive note?

[Unregistered]

Hello, I'm sixteen-year-old girl from the Netherlands and yesterday I came across a sentence that included the phrase 'to end on a positive note'. I searched at Google for idioms and such like this one but I couldn't find anything. Could anyone explain to me what this phrase means exactly? Thanks in advance.

 

[queenbu]

It means on a more encouraging note, more optimistic. Usually used after you've been talking about not so good things.

 

[mykwyner]

This is something you would say after delivering bad news.

Sales Meeting Agenda​

Item 1. Company sales are down 30% from last year.

Item 2. Our three best salespeople have quit and are now with the competition.

Item 3. Our shipping department is two weeks behind and our customers are canceling what few orders we have.

Item 4. To end on a positive note: Our boss just bought a new twelve-cylinder BMW and he loves it!

 

[acdcfan]

So I had to register to reply. Oh well, might be useful in the future.

Anyway, thanks again for your answers. However, I don't know if I understand completely. Just to clarify, the sentence was, "We know that not all stories end on a positive note." So does it still mean "on a more encouraging/optimistic note" in this context or does this context make no sense at all?

 

[queenbu]

It means not all stories end happily. Every phrase has to be seen within its context. Welcome to the forum.

 

[acdcfan]

Thank you.