"the whole nine yards" 1942

[James Smith]

But this seems to refer to a measure of length, i.e.,
a list nine yards long.

--- Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU> wrote:

... By now I
> think it is fairly clear that
> "yards" here does not mean thirty-six inch units
> (nor...Montagnards); items of
> an ensemble, rather than identical units of linear
> measure. (Hence, earlier
> quotes of linear measure yards, I suggest, become
> irrelevant to the case.)
>
...
>
> 1966 U.Mich. copy:  [page 176 top]...the nine yards
of
> things that we have really all been aware of for a
> long time and should pay a
> lot more attention to..." [keywords include:
> southeast asia, dong xoai, phuoc
> binh...]
>
> Stephen Goranson
> http://www.duke.edu/~goranson


James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.



____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss an email again!
Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives.
http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/

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