it's not over till the fat lady sings

A form of it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings — There are more developments yet to come; one should not presume to know the outcome of an event which is still in progress.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. alternativeAlternative form of it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.

    When the score climbs to 10–1, I ask him how it feels. A huge grin spreads across his face as he replies, “Great.” Some pitchers would try to be tough in the situation: It’s not over till the fat lady sings, the last man is out, and all that. Not Sid [Fernandez]. He’s happy and why hide it?

    1986, Keith Hernandez, Mike Bryan, “September 2—San Diego”, in If at First: A Season with the Mets, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Book Company, →ISBN, section 5 (Strike Two: August 2–September 3), page 277
    2 more examples

    “Gee, we’re slowing down? We may be tight on fuel—” / “This would be really tough,” Dick said, “if we had to sweat fuel. You know how I hate to sweat fuel.” Hah, hah. Little did we know. / The guy in charge of this gauntlet we were running was not going to let us home free. He was going to make us sweat every damn mile. / “Well,” I kept reminding Dick, “remember it’s not over till the fat lady sings.”

    1987, Jeana Yeager, Dick Rutan, with Phil Patton, “Until the Fat Lady Sings”, in Voyager, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., →ISBN, page 308

    I’m reminded of what he [Virgil Fox] often said to audiences: “Fasten your seat belts!” And as Bette Davis said, “It’s going to be a bumpy night!” However, as with both of these icons—for whom theatrical producing was always worthwhile—with results still only in sight, we must acknowledge that “It’s not over till the fat lady sings” (and the bills are paid).

    2005 September, Richard Torrence, “Organs on Broadway! Honoring Virgil Fox”, in The American Organist, volume 39, number 9, New York, N.Y.: American Guild of Organists, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 66, column 1
Cite this entry
APA

it's not over till the fat lady sings. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it's%20not%20over%20till%20the%20fat%20lady%20sings

MLA

“it's not over till the fat lady sings.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it's%20not%20over%20till%20the%20fat%20lady%20sings. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “it's not over till the fat lady sings,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it's%20not%20over%20till%20the%20fat%20lady%20sings.

Source: it's not over till the fat lady sings on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.