it ain't over till the fat lady sings
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A situation is not finished until the final outcome is certain
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tình huống chưa kết thúc cho đến khi kết quả cuối cùng được xác định
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: an opera ending with a final song by a large female singer
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “it ain't over till the fat lady sings” mean?
A situation is not finished until the final outcome is certain Literally: an opera ending with a final song by a large female singer
Is “it ain't over till the fat lady sings” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.