Not over till the fat lady sings ... in Texas?

[Dan Goodman]

 >Date:    Sat, 4 Oct 2003 13:51:20 +0100
 >From:    Michael Quinion <TheEditor at WORLDWIDEWORDS.ORG>
 >Subject: Not over till the fat lady sings ... in Texas?

 >A subscriber has sent me a note which sounds like one of the more
 >inventive bits of folk etymological invention that have come my way
 >recently. But might there just be a smidgen of truth in it?

 >He claims the expression comes from the Texas legislature, in which
 >at one time (he quotes a time around WW2) an opera singer performed
 >at the end of each legislative session. Whenever a legislator or
 >lobbyist suffered a defeat, he would say, "It ain’t over until the
 >Fat Lady sings!", by which he would declare that his project wasn't
 >finally defeated until the session was adjourned.

There are many strange stories about the Texas legislature, particularly
toward the end of a session.   Some of them are true; but this doesn't
fit the pattern of the true ones.

At the end of the session, the legislators are in a rush to get
everything over with quickly.  Some rather strange things have passed;
for example, a resolution honoring someone for  his work in combatting
the population problem.  (Most of the legislators weren't familiar with
his name.  He was better known as the Boston Strangler.)

Having an opera singer perform would've delayed the legislators, it
seems to me.  And the Texas Legislature has never been known for its
cultural refinement.

If this was true, I would expect the _Almanac of American Politics_ to
have mentioned it at least once.

--
Dan Goodman
Journal http://dsgood.blogspot.com or
http://www.livejournal.com/users/dsgood/
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.