It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings
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"It ain't over till (''or'' until) the fat lady sings" is a
colloquialism Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
which is often used as a
proverb A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...
. It means that one should not presume to know the outcome of an event which is still in progress. More specifically, the phrase is used when a situation is (or appears to be) nearing its conclusion. It cautions against assuming that the current state of an event is irreversible and clearly determines how or when the event will end. The phrase is most commonly used in association with organized competitions, particularly
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
.


Definition

The phrase is generally understood to be a reference to
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
sopranos, who were traditionally amply contoured. The imagery of
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's opera cycle ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
'' and its last part, ''
Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as p ...
'', is typically used in depictions accompanying uses of the phrase. The "fat lady" is thus the
valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
Brünnhilde Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label= Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda ...
, who was traditionally presented as a very buxom lady. Her farewell scene lasts almost twenty minutes and leads directly to the finale of the whole Ring Cycle. As ''Götterdämmerung'' is about the end of the world (or at least the world of the Norse gods), in a very significant way "it is llover when the fat lady sings."


Attribution

The first recorded use appeared in the ''
Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'' on March 10, 1976:
Despite his obvious allegiance to the Red Raiders,
Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
sports information director Ralph Carpenter was the picture of professional objectivity when the Aggies rallied for a 72–72 tie late in the SWC tournament finals. "Hey, Ralph," said Bill Morgan, "this... is going to be a tight one after all." "Right", said Ralph, "the opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings."
In the same newspaper on November 26, 2006, Steve Blow followed up the discovery by contacting Bill Morgan about the incident:
Bill vividly remembers the comment and the uproar it caused throughout the press box. He always assumed it was coined on the spot. "Oh, yeah, it was vintage Carpenter. He was one of the world’s funniest guys," said Bill, a contender for that title himself.
The 1976 use of the phrase was discovered by
Fred R. Shapiro Fred Richard Shapiro is an American academic and writer working as the editor of ''The Yale Book of Quotations'', ''The Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations'', and several other books. Education Shapiro earned a Bachelor of Science de ...
, who published it in ''
The Yale Book of Quotations ''The Yale Book of Quotations'' is a quotations collection focusing on modern and American quotations. Edited by Fred R. Shapiro, it was published by Yale University Press in 2006 with a foreword by Joseph Epstein, . Prior to publication it was re ...
''. It had previously been attributed to sportswriter and broadcaster
Dan Cook Daniel John Cook Jr. (August 12, 1926 – July 3, 2008) was a sports writer for the '' San Antonio Express-News'' for 51 years. He is most notable for making the phrase " the opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings" into common use. Described a ...
, who used the phrase after the first basketball game between the
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...
and the
Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
(now the Washington Wizards) during the 1978 NBA Playoffs. Cook used the line to illustrate that while the Spurs had won once, the series was not over yet. Shapiro called this a notable example of misattribution.


Phrases with similar meanings

*"The game isn't over until the final out" is an older aphorism pertaining to
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, meaning that even if one team is behind, they always have a chance of winning until the third out of the final inning completes the game. *"It ain't over till it's over", a variation of the above phrase popularized by baseball player
Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball ...
. *"
Don't count your chickens before they hatch The Milkmaid and Her Pail is a folktale of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 1430 about interrupted daydreams of wealth and fame. Ancient tales of this type exist in the East but Western variants are not found before the Middle Ages. It was only in the ...
", a well-known saying which originated in the 16th century. *"The future isn't carved in stone", "nothing is carved in stone" or "it isn't carved in stone" is a phrase meaning that the future can always be changed. *, once cited in English as "Don't say cat if you don't have it in the sack ag" is an Italian saying used in informal and funny contexts, popularized by football trainer
Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...
.


References

{{Der Ring des Nibelungen Adages English proverbs Cultural depictions of women Opera history Quotations from music Quotations from sports 1976 neologisms