'It ain't over till it's over'

[Olympian]

Hello,

what is the meaning of 'It ain't over till it's over'?

"There were some people who thought that I was finished," Cain said Wednesday night. "But I'm going to leave it with Yogi Berra's comment: 'It ain't over till it's over.' And it ain't over yet."

Does it simply mean 'it isn't over yet'? or is there more to it?

Thank you

[Raymott]

Hello,

what is the meaning of 'It ain't over till it's over'?

"There were some people who thought that I was finished," Cain said Wednesday night. "But I'm going to leave it with Yogi Berra's comment: 'It ain't over till it's over.' And it ain't over yet."

Does it simply mean 'it isn't over yet'? or is there more to it?

Thank you

There's no more to it. The meaning is almost as trivial as it appears.
The context will reveal what the point is, eg. "You can't judge the outcome of something until it's over."; "You can't say my career is over if I'm still working", etc.

[Olympian]

There's no more to it. The meaning is almost as trivial as it appears.
The context will reveal what the point is, eg. "You can't judge the outcome of something until it's over."; "You can't say my career is over if I'm still working", etc.

@Raymott, thank you for explaining with other sentences.

Is this expression same as - 'It’s not over until the fat lady sings'?

[Raymott]

@Raymott, thank you for explaining with other sentences.

Is this expression same as - 'It’s not over until the fat lady sings'?

No, but you could adapt it to a similar context. The fat lady saying is from opera - it's not over until the diva performs her final aria. (Don't ask me if it's true - I'm not an opera fan).
Similar phrase:
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch."
They all mean something slightly different, but can be used meaningfully if the context allows it.

[~Mav~]

The fat lady saying is from opera - it's not over until the diva performs her final aria. (Don't ask me if it's true - I'm not an opera fan).

It's not true - for at least two reasons:
a) Only a very few opera end with an aria.
b) I hope it's not new to anyone, but not every opera singer (including divas) is fat.

A typical example of an opera ending with the death of the female protagonist is the final scene of Tosca by Puccini, where Tosca jumps off the top of Castel Sant'Angelo, singing her final line (NB: not an aria!), "O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!" (By this time, the male protagonists had already died, one of them - Scarpia - at Tosca's hand. ) Admittedly, during the history of opera, there indeed have been several overweight Toscas ( ), but again, that's not necessarily so.

I would have liked to include a link to one of Maria Callas's performances, but I couldn't find this particular scene on YouTube with her.

[Olympian]

@Raymott, @Mav, thank you.

I hope I don't offend Mav by something I read about opera.

"Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings." -Ed Gardner

[SoothingDave]

I doubt Yogi Berra was a big opera fan. He is a wonderful source of witticisms, intentional or not.

[Tdol]

Does it simply mean 'it isn't over yet'? or is there more to it?

It does emphasise that there is always hope and a chance to change things right till the end.

[Olympian]

It does emphasise that there is always hope and a chance to change things right till the end.

@Tdol, thank you.

With your explanation in mind, let me try to use this expression.

Even though Germany has bailed out Greece in the debt crisis once before, Greece did not get its act together and Germany and other nations had to help it again. Now the Euro debt crisis is threatening the Euro itself, but it ain't over till it's over. There is hope against hope that a solution would be found, although experts are warning that the Euro crisis is not a licence to print money, which might at best bring short-term relief.

[Tdol]

That works, but I would change a solution would be found to will be found.