Whole nine yards?

Question

where does the saying whole nine yards come from. I belived it was the distance between the crease in cricket but a friend says it was the length of the ammunition strip in the spitfire during WW11.

Answer 1

QUIT QUOTING WIKIPEDIA!!! It is HIGHLY unreliable. Even the founder says so:

June 12, 2006

Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation

Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia compiled by a distributed network of volunteers, has often come under attack by academics as being shoddy and full of inaccuracies. Even Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says he wants to get the message out to college students that they shouldn’t use it for class projects or serious research.

Speaking at a conference at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday called “The Hyperlinked Society,” Mr. Wales said that he gets about 10 e-mail messages a week from students who complain that Wikipedia has gotten them into academic hot water. “They say, ‘Please help me. I got an F on my paper because I cited Wikipedia’” and the information turned out to be wrong, he says. But he said he has no sympathy for their plight, noting that he thinks to himself: “For God sake, you’re in college; don’t cite the encyclopedia.”

Mr. Wales said that leaders of Wikipedia have considered putting together a fact sheet that professors could give out to students explaining what Wikipedia is and that it is not always a definitive source. “It is pretty good, but you have to be careful with it,” he said. “It’s good enough knowledge, depending on what your purpose is.”

In an interview, Mr. Wales said that Wikipedia is ideal for many uses. If you are reading a novel that mentions the Battle of the Bulge, for instance, you could use Wikipedia to get a quick basic overview of the historical event to understand the context. But students writing a paper about the battle should hit the history books.

Answer 2

The origins of the expression are unknown, but various theories are popularly held as to the root of it. One of the more common of these is that the expression dates from the Second World War, where the "nine yards" was the full length of a machine-gun ammunition belt, and to "go the full nine yards" was to use it up in its entirety. The expression, however, has only been dated back to 1966 (in U.S. Air Force slang recorded in Vietnam) and it is unlikely it could have been in common use in the 1940s without being recorded either then or in the next twenty years.

The phrase could also be attributed to the tailoring industry, in which a quality suit of clothing required nine yards of material. To tailor a quality suit "takes the whole nine yards."

Other suggested origins have included sources as diverse as the size of cement mixers, the length of bridal veils, the manufacture of kilts, the length of cloth bolts, and the structure of certain sailing vessels (where "yard" is short for yardarm, not for the distance).

Another explanation is that the term is a sarcastic reference to American football, where ten yards is the length of a first down. With running nine yards being no real achievement, to say that someone ran 'the whole nine yards' would be to say that they almost achieved something.

Answer 3

The origins of the expression are unknown, but various theories are popularly held as to the root of it. One of the more common of these is that the expression dates from the Second World War, where the "nine yards" was the full length of a machine-gun ammunition belt, and to "go the full nine yards" was to use it up in its entirety. The expression, however, has only been dated back to 1966( in U.S. Air Force slang recorded in Vietnam) and it is unlikely it could have been in common use in the 1940s without being recorded either then or in the next twenty years.

Answer 4

I heard it was an old (and I mean old) tailor's saying. It comes from the idea that to have made a decent set of clothes for a guy, it took about 9 square yards of material. That saying developed into the saying, "Dressed to the nines."

Answer 5

It is actually a Scottish term, referring to the manufacture of a kilt. A proper Scottish kilt, manufactured according to traditional specifications, required 9 yards of material. Tailors of dubious integrity would cut corners by using only, e.g. 8 yards. Thus they would be able to make a 9th 8-yard kilt every 8 kilts - more kilts made means more to sell, more money made. To use the whole 9 yards meant not to cut corners, not to sacrafice honesty and integrity at for the sake of profit.

Answer 6

The ammo strip is one theory.

The other is that it takes 9 yards of material to make the finest suits. So the whole nine yards would be the best.

Answer 7

Ask Yahoo! has a great answer to this one. They covered the question "What does the saying "the whole nine yards" mean and where did it come from?" back in 1998!!! :)

Answer 8

I've heard that it's a bolt of cloth used by a tailor and also the one about the ammunition strip.

Answer 9

Your friend is right. I believe it was the machine guns, had the long stips of ammo. (think what rambo wore over his shoulders) Useing the whole nine yards ment using all the ammo, going all the way ect

Answer 10

It is definately the length of amunition in a Spitfire, giving the enemy the whole 9 yards would mean using every round of amunition to kill him. therefore you gave the enemy everything you had