"It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over"

[Fred Shapiro]

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003, Gerald Cohen wrote:

> P.S. His most famous saying is "It ain't over 'til it's over." Is
> that one of his genuine contributions?

Yes, as far as I know.  But I have had trouble pinning down an early
source for this; the earliest I have is 1980.  Can anyone provide
pre-1980 evidence (I know it's supposed to have been said in connection
with the Mets' great pennant drive of 1973, but contemporaneous citations
appear to be difficult to come by).

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
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