the 1966 "nine yards" audience listed
Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
Thu Aug 9 18:46:48 UTC 2007
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
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A thought on "whole/full nine yards":
In several of the early cites for the phrase, it looks as if it is being
used as a synonym for "the distance":
Stars and Stripes, 8/6/1971
"I am an alcoholic who has been the whole nine yards."
Appleton Post-Crescent 4/27/1975
"You're just not going the whole nine yards for him."
El Paso Herald-Post 10/9/75
"SFC Powdrill is a stalwart Texan and although he has a broken ankle
hindering his movements, he said he is bound and determined "to go the
whole nine yards." "
Denton [TX] Record-Chronicle 2/23/75
"The .22 rifle was so much fun to shoot that I decided to go the whole
nine yards and get a .22 pistol, too."
Might this imply that the origins of the figurative usage are in "yards"
as a unit of distance? Probably not, but worth considering. . . . (And
note that I'm not advocating this, just offering it out there.)
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
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