It was while watching a cartoon of a cat being tortured by the ever clever mouse, that I heard the cat say "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings " after he slid down the banisters and crashed into a heavy peice of furniture. The quotation/proverb which essentially means that one shouldn't assume the outcome of some activity until it has actually finished. There are many theories behind its origin. The most popular one attributes it origin to Dan Cook, a sports editor.
A report in the Washington Post (13 June 1978) had this version: "One day three years ago, Ralph Carpenter, who was then Texas Tech's sports information director, declared to the press box contingent in Austin. `The rodeo ain't over till the bull riders ride.' Stirred to that deep insight, San Antonio sports editor Dan Cook countered with, `The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings.' Two days before this, the Times had more precisely quoted Cook as coming up with his version the previous April after the basketball playoff game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Bullets to illustrate that while the Spurs had won once, the series was not over yet. Bullets coach Dick Motta borrowed the phrase later during the Bullets' eventually successful championship drive, and it became widely known and was often mistakenly attributed to him."
Another lesser accepted theory is that this phrase originated from the fact that the last piece in most opera's is the fat lady singing an aria. There's usually a big scene with lots of people singing and sometimes moving about (a finale), in which the music may get pretty loud. Most people leave before this is finished, but the actually opera is said to be finished when the fat lady finishes her song . Hence the phrase.
Trivia
This saying is often attributed to Yogi Berra, as he is the originator of the similar line "It ain't over until it's over."
In The Simpsons Season 1 Episode 2 Genius Bart, the Simpsons family goes to an opera. Homer asks when is this thing finish to which Bart replies, It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. To which Homer points out that the fat lady is singing.
In The Simpsons Season 1 Episode 2 Genius Bart, the Simpsons family goes to an opera. Homer asks when is this thing finish to which Bart replies, It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. To which Homer points out that the fat lady is singing.
Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org, http://www.qunl.com/
