whole nine yards

[Herb Stahlke]

The test of the British version, of course, is whether the term appears in British sources.  Has anyone searched there?

Herb

>>> Bapopik at AOL.COM 06/28/00 07:48PM >>>
   I have done much research on "the whole nine yards," but have come up
empty.  I think I had looked through Tamony's papers a few years ago.
   I found the "nine yards of cloth" that's in the RHHDAS.
   There are several things that disturb me about the WWII origin.  The time
gap is a big one.  "Nine yards" is first cited in the mid-1960s.  I went to
the Military College in Carlysle, PA last year (if anyone remembers) to
research military slang lists.  "Nine yards" just wasn't there.
    I also didn't find the phrase in a football context in the 1960s,
although it would assume that in the 1970s.
    I didn't find it in Vietnam War slang.
    There are a few more possibilities I'll try.