Where does the saying "Dressed to the nines" come from?

Answer 1

In a world where much of our common language and most of our slang expressions relate back to the time when maritime occupations were the primary businesses, "dressed to the nines" is another phrase co-opted into common usage that was originally a shipping term from back when all ships were sail-driven and the largest and fastest had 3 masts, each with 3 primary sails which were called "yards". Though all the sails were not usually in use at the same time, when they were it was called "the whole nine yards". Thus,on very important occasions or in celebration of a naval victory, the ship would be in full sail or "dressed to the nines".

Answer 2

"There are at least half a dozen theories about this one. What we do know is that the phrase is first recorded in the late eighteenth century in poems by Robert Burns.

One very persistent theory is that the British Army’s 99th Regiment of Foot were renowned for their smartness, so much so that the other regiments based with them at Aldershot were constantly trying to emulate them—to equal “the nines”. The big problem with this theory is that the story dates from the 1850s, and the phrase is older.

Other attempts at explanation connect it with the nine Muses, or with the mystic number nine, or even perhaps reaching a standard of nine on a scale of one to ten—not perfect, but doing very well.

Walter Skeat (the editor of the Oxford Etymological Dictionary and the first secretary of the English Dialect Society) once proposed that it could originally have been “dressed to the eyes”, which in medieval English would have been “to then eyne”; the phrase could afterwards have mutated by the same principle that caused “a norange” to change to “an orange”. But the reverse problem of dating arises here, in that if it were truly medieval in origin one would expect examples to have turned up before Burns’ time. As a result, that suggestion is now not accepted by anybody.

Short answer: nobody knows."

Answer 3

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RE:
Where does the saying "Dressed to the nines" come from?

Answer 4

Hey..It Means..to dress flamboyantly.

But there r many theories as to the origin of this phrase. One has it that tailors used nine yards of material to make a suit (or according to some authors a shirt). The more material you had the more status. Nine yards seems generous even for a fop. Nine has been used as a superlative in other contexts.

I hope helped u in some way......cya..bye!!

Answer 5

Another thought on the origin of the "whole nine yards" dates back to WW2 , The Hellcat fighter held 27 feet of ammunition/ 9 yards,it meant to dump all of your ammo into a target.

Answer 6

Hey, Bust A Move

Answer 7

from the song "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"