all gong and no dinner, phr. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

all gong and no dinner phr.

[in an era when a gong was rung to announce the imminence of dinner]

all talk but no action.

1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 12/1: 1981.
1987		A. Buzo Glancing Blows 68: The sky in Townsville is all gong and no dinner. It will often fill with pregnant grey clouds but there won't be a drop of rain.
1999		kyliefever.com 🌐 Is it because Kylie lacks a serious body of work – that she is, as one critic sniffed, ‘all gong and no dinner’?
2001		J. McKenna Gambler’s Fortune 410: She tells them not to worry, that Kalion is all gong and no dinner and the person they need to look to is the Archmage.
2005		C. Wheelers Jannaway’s Mutiny 261: As for Dreyer, he’s all gong and no dinner.