whole nine yards

[Stephen Goranson]

Thanks. I stand corrected. This quote appears in the Pocket Books paperback 1967
edition (which I have at hand) on page 47. My notes for the (or one of two) 1967
hardback editions (that I don't have at hand) do not include this. I was wrong.
The origin explanation still lacks consensus. I still suggest Montagnards be
considered.

Stephen Goranson

Quoting Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
> Subject:      Re: whole nine yards
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From: "Stephen Goranson" <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2005 1:49 PM
> Subject: Re: whole nine yards
>
>
> > Rather than "IIRC" can you or anyone give a 1967 page number?
> > Stephen Goranson
>
> What follows is a snippet from a thread over at The Straight Dope Message
> Board.  My good friend Arnold got a copy of the book and posted (from:
> http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=293431&highlight=yards
>
> [QUOTE BY ARNOLD]
> My copy is:
> (hardcover) Trident Press, New York 1967, as far as I can tell a first
> edition
>
> From Chapter 3, "Bien Hoa (Peaceful Shore)" p.54 in my copy
> "Smash" Crandell is a major in the 13th B-57 squadron which rotates between
> Clark Air Base (Philippines) and Da Nang (Vietnam). We are talking about
> Smash's marriage (he is now divorced):
>
>
> Quote:
>       The story began when he had absent-mindedly gone through a wedding
> ceremony a couple of years before while snockered one Saturday night in San
> Francisco. Slipping out of the knot was expensive but Smash was eventually
> able to untangle what he called "the whole nine yards."
>
>
> [END QUOTE BY ARNOLD]
>
>
> But I"ve also read a poster saying they had a 1967 edition by another
> publisher, and it did NOT contain the first cite.  Of course, it also could
> depend on how well someone searched for the cite.
>
>
> Sam Clements
>