The phrase "the whole nine yards" means "completely, the whole, everything" – e.g.:
"I was mugged. They took my wallet, my keys, my shoes, my cat – the whole nine yards!"
Origin
One of the most common explanations for the phrase's origin is that the expression dates from the Second World War, where "nine yards" was the length of an aircraft machine-gun ammunition belt, and to "go the full nine yards" was to use it up entirely. However, machine-gun
ammunition belts were not nine yards long, and the expression has been reliably dated back only to early 1964, in U.S.
Space Program slang.[1] It was also apparently popular
among Air Force personnel in Vietnam.[2] By November 1967 it was recorded in use in the U.S. Army, likewise from Vietnam, and by mid-1969 was
appearing in newspaper advertisements in the United States.[3] The first citation in the Oxford English
Dictionary is from 1970, in the magazine Word Watching.[4]
Whilst no written occurrences have been found predating 1964, a number of anecdotal recollections suggest the phrase dates
back at least a further decade, potentially into the 1940s. One of the better-documented cases is provided by Captain Richard
Stratton, who recorded in 2005 that he encountered the phrase during naval flight training in Florida in July 1955 as part of a ribald story about a mythical Scotsman.[5] It has been suggested that there is strong circumstantial evidence it was not in
general use in 1961, as Ralph Boston set a world record for the long jump that year at 27 feet, or nine yards, but no news report has been found that made any reference to
the term, suggesting that journalists were unaware of it or did not regard it as common enough to use as a pun.[6]
Of course, popular etymology has risen to the challenge; a vast number of explanations have been put forward to explain the
purported origins of the term. Suggested sources have been as diverse as the volume of graves or concrete mixers; the length of bridal veils, kilts, burial shrouds, bolts of
cloth, or saris; American football; ritual
disembowelment; and the structure of certain sailing vessels. Little documentary evidence
has ever surfaced supporting any of these, and many labour under the significant disadvantage of being several centuries earlier
than the first recorded use of the term.
References
- ^ Trumbell, Stephen. "Talking Hip in the Space Age", Tucson (Arizona)
Daily Citizen, April 25, 1964. See also Language Log discussion
- ^ As recorded in "The Doom Pussy", Elaine Shepard, pub. February 1967. For a
lengthy discussion, see Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, David Wilton. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN
0-19-517284-1
- ^ Pacific Stars and Stripes, 13th November 1967, and Playground
Daily News, 25th April 1969, quoted in Whole Nine Yards (Barry Popik, May 14, 2005)
- ^ See second entry for "whole", section D, The Oxford English
Dictionary, second edition, 1989. Oxford University Press. Unfortunately, no etymology for the phrase is given.
- ^ Communication from Richard Stratton, quoted in Whole Nine Yards (Barry Popik, May 14, 2005); see also The
Scotsman's Kilt, the originating story
- ^ The whole nine yards - meaning and origin, Gary Martin, 2006. The Phrase
Finder
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