# Who Coined the phrase "It Ain't Over Till The Fat Lady Sings?"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 6, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401 "2003-12-06T17:43:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/1 "2003-12-06T17:43:22Z")
When I hear this quote it makes me think I heard before that it is related to opera. Can’t find information on it.
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### Author:  [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/2 "2003-12-06T17:52:59Z")
According to [these folks](http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/4-24-01askeds.html), it was a San Antonio sportscaster who first said it.
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### Author:  [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/3 "2003-12-06T17:56:07Z")
Oh, and note that the correct quote is, indeed, “The opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings.”
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### Author:  [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/4 "2003-12-06T18:01:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Early Out \*
> \*\*According to [these folks](http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/4-24-01askeds.html), it was a San Antonio sportscaster who first said it. \*\*
[Cecil agrees.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_243b.html)
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### Author:  [@lucky\_henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucky_henry)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/5 "2003-12-06T18:03:36Z")
That site is wrong. I remember my grandparents using that phrase back in the mid 1960’s.
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### Author:  [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/6 "2003-12-06T18:19:20Z")
Agree-I \*\* know \*\* I heard it in the 60s,before Dandy Don used his “Turn out the lights” on MNF.
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### Author:  [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/7 "2003-12-06T19:08:01Z")
Though I don’t know what _month_ the book was published, the expression “Church ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” was documented in Southern Words and sayings [1976] by Fabia Rue Smith and Charles Rayford.
Given that the lead time associated with compiling and publishing such books, this suggests the expression pre-dates Dan Cooks column. It’s a wonderful phrase, but I’m not sure it’d instantly qualify for last second inclusion. We Southerners invent too many colorful turns of phrases each day, for one isolated quip in a Texas column to stand out much. Of course, it might simply have tickled someone’s fancy.
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### Author:  [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/8 "2003-12-06T19:09:20Z")
Oops, I meant to add: it is equally likely that the sportscaster or someone he knew read the book, and he unknowingly repeated it.
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-coined-the-phrase-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings/217401/9 "2003-12-06T19:43:24Z")
Rosanne Barr?