Whole Nine Yards update(1964)?

[Dave Wilton]

Great find! It does appear to be genuine and while the gloss is rather
specific, it's clearly being used in the familiar sense. The citation also
further strengthens the idea that its origins are in US Air Force slang,
NASA being very closely associated with the Air Force. (The article is about
the slang of the space program.)


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Sam Clements
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 5:56 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Whole Nine Yards update(1964)?

Newspaper Archive, who has been(rightfully) much maligned the last few weeks
while they're updating their workings, produces today this cite:

Tucson(AZ) Daily Citizen, 25 April 1964, page 25, a story about NASA.

"Give 'em the whole nine yards" means an item-by-item report on any project.


Make of this what you will.  It may not be what it seems.  I just stopped by
to report this.

Sam Clements

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