2006-06-19 14:28:18 · 11 answers · asked by fly4yall 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
I always heard that it was in reference to the amount of cement that a fully loaded cement truck could carry. Give me the whole nine yards means give me it all.
2006-06-25 16:28:37 · answer #1 · answered by Max Tork 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
The WWII story has been around for a long time, but it's just wrong. The term didn't come into general use until the 1960s; there's no mention of the "whole nine yards" in any accounts of the war.
The actual origin of the term is unclear.
2006-06-20 03:42:15 · answer #2 · answered by Flyboy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
While I'd like to give a witty answer that is documented on other websites, I believe this term was first coined by a young goat herder in Jerusalem. He was quite poor and helped subsidize his family income by trimming grass in the neighborhood where he lived. His method was quite ingenious. He would barter a fair wage and then set his goats loose on the yard. While they munched away, he would sit in the shade and eat hummus with his best friend, Jesus. One day, Jesus realized that He, too, could use some cash and decided to start His own company. Soon, the whole town of Jerusalem was trimmed. All that was left was a lone street in a rather poor part of town. The two lads raced with their goats to their final customers. Of course, Jesus, won and before the other goats arrived, His goats had finished the task. The first words out His competitor's mouth was...THE WHOLE NINE YARDS...COULDN'T YOU HAVE SAVED SOMETHING FOR ME???
2006-06-26 13:46:12 · answer #3 · answered by Chainsawmom 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The full length of a machine gun chain is 9 yards. So, the whole 9 yards consumes all of the rounds.
2006-06-19 14:33:43 · answer #4 · answered by jmtmeyer 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It comes from the ammunition belts for certain machineguns during WWII being nine yards in length. The phrase implies doing everything possible to achieve (or prevent) a result, or giving an effort everything you have.
2016-05-20 03:33:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In WW2 the fighter aircraft had belt feed 50 cal. guns. the belt was nine yards long. So if the pilot fired all his bullets, he give them the whole nine yards.
2006-06-19 14:35:06 · answer #6 · answered by gray wolf 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In WWII, door gunners on bombers were given 27 feet of ammunition for their fifty caliber machine guns. If they were in an intense battle and used all of their ammo, it was said that they gave 'em the "whole nine yards".
2006-06-19 14:32:45 · answer #7 · answered by Mr. Grudge 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A proper Scottish pleated kilt is traditionally made from 9 yards of material. Any less is not up to par.
2006-06-19 14:32:49 · answer #8 · answered by nvr10pts 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I also heard it was the 27ft of linked machine gun bullets. But I thought It was some carrier based fighter. MAybe a Grumman Hellcat
2006-06-19 18:39:08 · answer #9 · answered by der_grosse_e 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you can see, there is a wide variety of origins for this phrase at straightdope.com, and it doesn't look like there's really a consensus.
2006-06-20 03:42:56 · answer #10 · answered by aaronw 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋