APAD: till the fat lady sings

"It ain't over till (or until) the fat lady sings"

is a colloquialism which is often used as a proverb. It means that one should not presume to know the outcome of an event which is still in progress. More specifically, the phrase is used when a situation is (or appears to be) nearing its conclusion. It cautions against assuming that the current state of an event is irreversible and clearly determines how or when the event will end. The phrase is most commonly used in association with organized competitions, particularly sports.

The phrase is generally understood to be a reference to opera sopranos, who were typically heavyset.The imagery of Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and its last part, Götterdämmerung, is typically used in depictions accompanying uses of the phrase. The "fat lady" is thus the valkyrie Brünnhilde, who was traditionally presented as a very buxom lady. Her farewell scene lasts almost twenty minutes and leads directly to the finale of the whole Ring Cycle.

所有跟帖： 

• 不要高興得太早，要看誰笑到最後 ：） 謝謝移哥分享。 -CBA7- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 08:53:30

• Truth scales. Here's a Solon quote by Croesus via Munger -7grizzly- ♀ (2459 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 09:21:45

• 占位點讚。Wait till Big Bertha stop singing ～～ -盈盈一笑間- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 10:23:58

• 學習了。就是不知這詞現在還常用嗎？fat lady ， 聽起來不太文雅。 -天邊一片白雲- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2023 postreply 15:59:15

• fat lady sings 這裏說說沒事，千萬別去唱壇：）） -衛寧- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 08:14:56

• 哈哈 -盈盈一笑間- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/05/2023 postreply 19:04:58