Anyone really know???
2006-10-30 09:15:12 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
There are several explanations for the phrase. Some people claim that American Football is the originating source, some that a good quality men's suit requires 9 years of fabric to make. There are other suggestions that the straps of ammunition for a Spitfire WWII fighter aircraft were 9 years long.
A Google search will bring up the sources I found, and then you can decide for yourself.
2006-10-30 09:27:51 · answer #1 · answered by Ben 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A more recent assertion is that twenty-seven feet was the standard length of a machine-gun belt, and that firing off the entire round was shooting "the whole nine yards." This is sensible in a number of ways- -the military is often a source for expressions of this type; it makes perfect semantic sense; the phrasing is reasonable. Most machine-gun belts were less than twenty-seven feet, unfortunately, and of course this phrase is not found specifically associated with this theory until very recently.
2006-10-30 09:24:30 · answer #2 · answered by icknblick 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not a football expression. It relates to the original machine/chain guns, which had 9 yards of bullets
2006-10-30 09:23:20 · answer #3 · answered by Nathan B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
WWII planes had an ammo belt, for machines, that was nine yards long. When a gunner used it on one plane they got the whole nine yards.
2006-10-30 09:24:33 · answer #4 · answered by doggiebike 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's a football expression, going the whole 9 yards, but not making the 1st down
2006-10-30 09:17:56 · answer #5 · answered by rachel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋