Whole Nine Yards update(1964)?

[Sam Clements]

Dave, or anyone else who has delved into the phrase.

I know that Elaine Shepard's husbands were military.  If I remember
correctly, her first husband was military from the 1940's and later.  Her
second husband was Air Force.  Anyone?

sc
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Wilton" <dave at WILTON.NET>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 9:34 PM
Subject: Re: Whole Nine Yards update(1964)?


> 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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>
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