Front-Page New York Times Story on "The Whole Nine Yards"

[Dan Goncharoff]

Great article. I have to say, though, that I remain confused. As both 6
cubic yards and nine cubic yards are standard sizes for hauling, how does
the shift from 6 to 9 refute the cubic yard theory?

On Wednesday, December 26, 2012, Shapiro, Fred wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<javascript:;>
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> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU <javascript:;>>
> Subject:      Front-Page New York Times Story on "The Whole Nine Yards"
>
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> Tomorrow's New York Times will have a story about the recent discoveries
> by=
>  Bonnie Taylor-Blake and me about the etymology of the phrase "the whole
> ni=
> ne yards."  I believe the story is going to be on the front page of the
> pri=
> nt newspaper.  Ben Zimmer and Jesse Sheidlower are also quoted, and Sam
> Cle=
> ments is mentioned.  The ADS-L list serv is referred to, and there is a
> lin=
> k to Barry Popik's website.  The online version is already up:
>
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/books/the-whole-nine-yards-seeking-a-phra=
> ses-origin.html
>
> Fred Shapiro
> Editor
> YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS (Yale University Press)
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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--
DanG

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