"the whole nine yards" 1942

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Fri Jul 13 03:48:22 UTC 2007


In a message dated 7/12/2007 12:49:11 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
goranson at DUKE.EDU writes:

1942 9  shipyards (and their productivity levels)
1964 "an item by item  report"
1966 every title on a record albumn
1966 "Then [in addition to  the above-mentioned items, e.g., self-sealing
tanks],
two-engines, two  pilots and the rest, the nine yards of things"--i.e., not a
9-yards-long  listing
1967 "a trim, shampoo, and shave, massaged him from waist to ears,  then
trapped
his stubborn curls under a hairnet"
1967 knot of marriage  untangled
1967 sex morning till night; beds everywhere
1968 [meaning  "all the way"--not an example of usage]
1969 on Ann-Margaret: "She's got  everything going for her.  She dances,
sings, acts---the whole nine  yards."


...
The Ann-Margret (not "Margaret") citation in the Pacific Stars and Stripes
is from 11-13-1927, not 1969. Also, there's this cite:
...
23 December 1967, Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette, pg. 3A, col. 8:
Like most of the invisible air force, George wasn't quite sure it was all
right to mention that he isn't at his home in Alabama. Here's his somewhat
reluctant story:
...
"We had just dumped our load on the railroad yards near Hanoi when Charlie
poured everything at us...flak, Sams, Migs...the whole nine  yards."



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