Whole Nine Yards update(1964)?

[Dave Wilton]

I don't know anything about her personal life. The dust jacket of my copy of
"The Doom Pussy" just states that she was divorced at the time of
publication. There's very little about her on the web. (Although I did find
out that in her earlier career as an actor she played Darla's mother on one
of the "Our Gang" shorts.)

Still, from reading "The Doom Pussy" it's clear that she had a good rapport
with the Air Force pilots she was writing about. It's a safe bet that any
phrase she puts in the mouth of a pilot is, if not an exact quote, at least
something that a pilot might in fact have said.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Sam Clements
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 7:35 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Whole Nine Yards update(1964)?

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

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

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