roy@gitpyr.UUCP (Roy J. Mongiovi) (01/21/85)
How about the saying "the whole nine yards"?
Does anyone know what it was derived from?
I mean, shouldn't that be 10 yards?
--
Roy J. Mongiovi. Office of Computing Services. User Services.
Georgia Institute of Technology. Atlanta GA 30332. (404) 894-6163
...!{akgua, allegra, amd, hplabs, ihnp4, masscomp, ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!roy
Who me? I'm not even a REAL modo, I'm only a quasi-modo.markb@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Mark Biggar) (01/22/85)
In article <39@gitpyr.UUCP> roy@gitpyr.UUCP (Roy J. Mongiovi) writes: >How about the saying "the whole nine yards"? >Does anyone know what it was derived from? > >I mean, shouldn't that be 10 yards? >-- >Roy J. Mongiovi. Office of Computing Services. User Services. This saying come from the fact that a standard dump truck (or cement truck I don't remember which) carries 9 cubic yards of dirt (or cement). Thus, "the whole nine yards" means you want the total contents of the truck load, and has evolved into a saying meaning "the whole thing". Mark Biggar {allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,akgua,sdcsvax}!sdcrdcf!markb
drp@ptsfb.UUCP (Dale Pederson) (01/23/85)
> How about the saying "the whole nine yards"? > Does anyone know what it was derived from? > I mean, shouldn't that be 10 yards? I was told that it came from the fact that the intestinal tract is nine yards (or so) long if unwound ... So if you go the full nine yards you've been through all the sh*t.
wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer) (01/24/85)
>How about the saying "the whole nine yards"? >Does anyone know what it was derived from? > >I mean, shouldn't that be 10 yards? >-- >Roy J. Mongiovi. Office of Computing Services. User Services. I remember reading about this not too long ago [in a galaxy somewhere in the neighborhood]. As it was explained then, the term comes from the building trades, and refers to the fact that a typical load of concrete contains 9 cubic yards. This sounds like about the right amount for a truckful to me, so I can't complain. So, to ask for "the whole nine yards" would mean you wanted "the works". As to why yards, rather than some other measurement, it seems you buy concrete by the cubic yard, and this is simply known as a "yard" in the business. Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill
dave@timeinc.UUCP (David Mutterer) (01/24/85)
> > How about the saying "the whole nine yards"? > > Does anyone know what it was derived from? > > I mean, shouldn't that be 10 yards? > > I was told that it came from the fact that the intestinal tract > is nine yards (or so) long if unwound ... So if you go the full > nine yards you've been through all the sh*t. Well, while I was in the army I heard that it meant when a full backback was unloaded that the stuff laid out on the ground was nine yards long.... stating that you were carrying a full load.. -- David Mutterer [vax135|ihnp4]!timeinc!dave "Any opinions expressed herein are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Time Incorporated."