[Ads-l] "(dressed) to the nine" (yards?)

[Peter Reitan]

On Phrases.org.uk, Gary Martin makes a believable suggestion that the "nines" are the nine muses.  I've dug through quite a few early references that appear just before "dressed to the nines" proper, that seem consistent with a reference to the muses.  What ever is "to the nines (or nine)" is generally something like poetry, or song, or art; sometimes a poet dedicates something "to the nines".  In the case of dressing, it seems that they are dressed in such a manner that the muses would be pleased.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/dressed-to-the-nines.html


> Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2016 21:15:30 +0000
> From: berson at ATT.NET
> Subject: "(dressed) to the nine" (yards?)
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "(dressed) to the nine" (yards?)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Has anyone examined a possible connection between "(dressed) to the nines" =
> and "the whole nine yards"?
> 
> At least one has, and denies a connection --  April 18, 2014   Daven Hiskey=
>  (who seems not to have seen the online OED's inclusion of the 1719 and oth=
> er quotations through 1835 in its 2003 update of "nine"; see earlier in the=
> ir article).
> 
>  Where The Expression "Dressed to the Nines" Came From
> 
> | =C2=A0 |
> | =C2=A0 |  | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 |
> | Where The Expression "Dressed to the Nines" Came FromSamira asks: Why do =
> we say =E2=80=9Cdressed to the nines=E2=80=9D when someone=E2=80=99s dresse=
> d up? Like so many etymologies of expressions and words, we can only make e=
> ducated guesse... |
> |  |
> | View on www.todayifoundout... | Preview by Yahoo |
> |  |
> | =C2=A0 |
> 
> 
> 
> "... it appears =E2=80=9Cto the nines=E2=80=9D was around before it was ass=
> ociated with clothing. For instance, over a century before the first docume=
> nted reference of =E2=80=9Cdressed to the nines,=E2=80=9D we have the Epist=
> le to Ramsay by William Hamilton (1719), where he stated,
> The bonny Lines therin thou sent me, How to the nines they did content me.
> From this, we can see how one would come up with the expression =E2=80=9Cdr=
> essed to the nines=E2=80=9D from the existing expression more or less meani=
> ng =E2=80=9Cperfect.=E2=80=9D Further, we can safely discount such often pu=
> t forth conjectures that the expression =E2=80=9Cdressed to the nines=E2=80=
> =9D came from tailors using nine yards of material to make a finely crafted=
>  suit of clothing (which is also often put forth as the origin of =E2=80=9C=
> the whole nine yards,=E2=80=9D which we cover the origin of in full here.)"
> 
> The OED has "dressed to the nines" for this 1719 quote and others through 1=
> 835 and beyond.=C2=A0 So it antedates as well as exists contemporaneously w=
> ith early "the whole nine yards" quotations.=C2=A0 And both connect with cl=
> oth.
> 
> P.S.=C2=A0 ? What is the currently earliest date foe "the whole nine yards"=
> ?=C2=A0 I've lost track.
> 
> 
> Joel
> 
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