The full nine yards (1907)

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 3:50 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> Later in the day I will comment a little bit more fully on these stunning latest discoveries by Bonnie, but for now let me ask, on the basis of this 1907 citation, is it possible that "nine yards" meant "nine innings"?

I wondered that too, but I doubt it given that our 1921 baseball
column (Spartanburg, South Carolina) was clearly titled "The Whole Six
Yards of It" and described a baseball game that was at least
nine innings long. My guess, at least, is that there isn't any real
connection between "nine innings" and "the full nine yards" in that
1907 sighting.

-- Bonnie

(Sorry if this goes through twice.)

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org