where does the phrase "the whole 9 yards" come from ?

Answer 1

This phrase, meaning "all of it, everything", dates from at least
the 1950s. The origin is a matter for speculation. 9 yards is not
a particularly significant distance either in football or in the
garment business (a man's three-piece suit requires about 7 square
yards of cloth, and cloth is sold in bolts of 20 to 25 yards). The
phrase may refer to the capacity of ready-mix concrete trucks,
alleged to average about 9 cubic yards. Some people (e.g., James
Kilpatrick in Fine Print: Reflections on the Writing Art) have
satisfied themselves that the concrete-trucks explanation is the
correct one; but I haven't seen the evidence. And Matthew Jetmore
has unearthed some evidence to the contrary, a passage from the
August 1964 issue of Ready Mixed Concrete Magazine: "The trend
toward larger truck mixer units is probably one of the strongest and
most persistent trends in the industry. Whereas, just a few years
ago, the 4 1/2 cubic yard mixer was definitely the standard of the
industry, the average nationwide mixer size by 1962 had increased to
6.24 cubic yards, with still no end in sight to the demand for
increased payload." The phrase is covered by Cecil Adams in More
of the Straight Dope, pp. 252-257. A "canonical collection" of
explanations has been compiled by "Snopes" ([e-mail]).

Michael Nunamaker writes that a friend of his in the U.S. Air
Force suggested a World War II origin: "According to him, the
length of the ammunition belt (feeding the machine guns) in the
Supermarine Spitfire was nine yards. Therefore, when a pilot had
shot all his ammunition he would say he had 'shot the whole nine
yards'."

Answer 2

The origin of the phrase is not known. One of the most common explanations is that it 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. Machine gun belts were 27 feet long. 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] The earliest known use of the phrase dates from 1942, in the Investigation of the National Defense Program: Hearings Before a Special Committee Investigating the National Defense Program[5], by Admiral Emory Scott Land. Land said: "You have to increase from 7.72 to 12 for the average at the bottom of that fifth column, for the whole nine yards." In context, Land is referring to shipyard production, and "the whole nine yards" means the combined output of all nine plants. Land does not seem to use the phrase in a whimsical fashion; it is a matter of fact statement. As such, it is likely that the phrase did not have its idiomatic meaning at the time. There is a small possibility that this represents the origin of the phrase. While no written occurrences with the modern idiomatic meaning 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.[6] 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.[7] 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; the above shipyards; 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. Now, aren't you sorry you asked??? :-)

Answer 3

Interestingly, this seems to be one of the most disputed phrase origins. Many possible explanations, yet no consensus on the true origin. Take your pick.

This phrase has also been attributed to W.W.II fighter planes. Nine yards was the exact length of a belt of 50-caliber ammunition for the Corsair fighter. If a target was shot at with the entire band, it was said to have been given "the whole nine yards".

Thanks to Tony Schullo

Alternatively, a tailor making a high quality suit uses more fabric. The best suits are made from nine yards of fabric.

This may seem like a lot but a proper suit does indeed take nine yards of fabric. This is because a good suit has all the fabric cut in the same direction with the warp, or long strands of thread, parallel with the vertical line of the suit. This causes a great amount of waste in suit making, but if you want to go "the whole nine yards", you must pay for such waste.

See the related phrase, "dressed to the nines".

Thanks to K. Paull

The phrase certainly applies to the preparation of a full set of men's clothing. To fully understand this, you need to know what constituted a "full set of clothing" for a man in the 17th and 18th Centuries where the phrase can first be traced.

The items of clothing for a man were a Westkit (waistcoat), Breeches (pants) and a Great Coat. The material requirements to tailor these garments (even with a minimal amount of waste) is nine yards of material (45" width in the 1800s). A Westkit requires 1.5 yards, Breeches requires 2.0 yards and the Coat requires 5.5 yards for a total of 9.0 yards. These amounts can be confirmed with many museums, historians or period re-enactors.

The reason that the Coats required so much material was that they went from shoulder down to the back of the knee in length, and then the lower portion of the coat was full and pleated, almost like a dress. The pattern for the coat below the waist is almost a full circle

Thanks to Uncle Bob

Alternatively,

"The whole nine yards" refers to the amount of fabric in a proper Scottish kilt.

Nine yards of fabric seemed positively way too much for a skirt - I mean a kilt. I was skeptical so I did a quick calculation on the kilt idea.

Measuring myself around the buttocks and hips, I find that I am 42 inches in circumference. 9 yards is 324 inches. Hence 9 yards of fabric could wrap around me 7.7 times! Even allowing for pleats and a bit of breathing room, this seems far too much.

However the kilt notion may have merit. Today, cloth is sold linearly such that a yard is three feet long, regardless of the width. But these measurements are likely to be the area of cloth - nine square yards.

The kilt, much like the suit, must have the fabric oriented in the proper direction. The plaid or Tartan as it's called has to be matched perfectly, so it doesn't look crooked. This alone takes a huge amount of cloth. The nine yards is the area of the fabric the tailor starts with, much of which ends up as scrap.

Additionally, a kilt does not simply wrap around the waist. It also includes fabric that is worn up and over the shoulder.

Old style kilts were used as blankets, toweling, or whatever else came to mind. There is a tale about one man using his to escape from a window of his lady-friend's bedchamber when her husband came home early. Needless to say he had to streak across to his horse and home.

Unfortunately, this turned out rather like those "Dumb Crook" cases you hear about now. Because each kilt was a specific Tartan, the husband had no trouble at all identifying the culprit.

Thanks to Ceruleann, Neuticals, and K. Paull

Alternatively, old style concrete mixers, or coal bins, held nine yards.

Thanks to Kensmark

Many old sailing ships had three masts, the fore, main, and mizzen. Each mast held three square sails. The horizontal stays that support the square sails are called yards. Hence the ships had nine yards.

Incidentally, a yardarm is one side of the yard.

Depending on the sailing conditions, more or less sails would be raised. In the best conditions peak speed could be achieved by raising all nine main sails, the whole nine yards.

Thanks to Harry Stevenson

Answer 4

The air gunners on the flying fortresses used during the second world war were supplied by belts of ammunition each gun had 9 yards of ammo . In action when shooting at an enemy plane the expression "I gave him the whole 9 yards" became common place.

Answer 5

From WW1

It's how long a machine gun's bullet holders were, and they held a lot of bullets, so when a machine gunner said, 'Let's give him the whole nine yards,' they meant it as, 'we're going to use all our ammo on that poor unfortunate man over there.'

Answer 6

It is a volume measurement, as from a dump truck, dumping loads of dirt. (Dump trucks come in various sizes, 7 yard, 8 yard capacity, etc.)

Answer 7

Who Cares

Answer 8

It was the length of the belt of the Maxim machine gun. All previous answers are hereby rendered inoperative