It Ain't Over Till The Fat Lady Sings
It ain't over till (or until) the fat lady sings is a colloquialism, essentially meaning that one should not assume the outcome of some activity (e.g. a sporting contest) until it has actually finished, similar to a common proverb. It is a perception of Grand Opera, with its stereotypically overweight sopranos.
Read more about It Ain't Over Till The Fat Lady Sings: Attribution
Famous quotes containing the words fat lady sings, fat, lady and/or sings:
“The opera isn’t over till the fat lady sings.”
—Anonymous.
A modern proverb along the lines of “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.” This form of words has no precise origin, though both Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (16th ed., 1992)
“Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 15:22.
“The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep,
Which is enduring, so be deep!
Heaven have her in its sacred keep!”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)