Dear lexi-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
A number of theories as to the origin of the phrase “Whole Nine Yards”
have been spoken of in the past and honestly, we may never know for
certain which one, if any, should be considered as the actual source.
Some believe that the phrase may first have come into use in medieval
times when convicts were tortured to death as a means of punishment.
As you may already know there was a multitude of creative, yet
unsavory means of torture employed in those days and one of the most
feared was disembowelment. Depending upon one’s crimes, of course, one
might simply have been eviscerated and left for dead, but in response
to especially heinous crimes the bowels were strewn about while the
living victim writhed in pain. Since the intestines are believed to be
roughly 27 feet long, the phrase “whole nine yards” referred to the
complete disembowelment of the victim and the most severe punishment a
person could face.
Others contend that the phrase came into use during the reign of King
Henry VIII when the church declared that bodies were to be buried in
graves that were of a minimum depth. If two family members were being
buried at one, as was not uncommon in the days due to the rampant
contagious diseases, a grave at least 6 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6
feet 9 inches deep was required These measurements surpassed the
Church’s minimum requirements by nine inches in depth. Among
gravediggers, this became known as “the whole nine yards” as they were
required to remove roughly 9 cubic feet of material, as opposed to the
removal of substantially less for only one coffin.
Still others prefer to believe these origins:
Nine yards is believed to be the amount of material need to create a
nun’s habit, or as some would claim, a man’s three-piece suit. Nine
yards is the length of a maharajah's ceremonial sash, the maximum
capacity of a West Virginia ore wagon, the volume of trash that a
standard garbage truck can carry, the entire length of a hangman's
noose, the distance you would have to run from a cell block to the
outer wall in order to survive a jail break, the actual length of a
standard bolt of cloth, the length of a burial shroud, the size of a
soldier's backpack, the length of cloth needed to make a kilt, the
number of yards in a ships sails, or that nine yards refers to some
memorable event in the game of American football (that no one seems to
recall specifically).
There are, of course, many others that I have not mentioned and you
can recreate my search strategy to find dozens more. My favorite, and
frankly the most plausible modern explanation, comes from the more
recent 1940’s, when, as you know, American culture was rife with slang
and “old sayings”, many of which originated from World War II military
vernacular. As the explanation goes, the phrase “the whole nine yards”
first gained fame among fighter pilots who employed the use of .50
caliber machine guns onboard their planes. The gun belt for this
weapon is said to have been exactly 27 feet long, so if a pilot was
really determined to hit a specific target he might completely
discharge his weapon in the enemy’s direction, thus giving his enemy
“the whole nine yards”.
I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
“Re: Origin of the phrase 'the whole nine yards'”
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/4/messages/1178.html
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/9/messages/744.html
WORLD WIDE WORDS
http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/nineyards.htm
ARTICLES: THE WHOLE NINE YARDS
http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/nineyards.htm
WHAT’S IN A WORD
http://www.tafkac.org/faq2k/word_273.html
NAUTICAL EXPRESSIONS IN THE VERNACULAR
http://www.io.com/gibbonsb/words.words.words.html
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
“Whole nine yards”
“Whole nine yards” origin
“Whole nine yards” quote |
