[Ads-l] Major Discovery Relating to "Whole Nine Yards"

[Joel Berson]

Surely paper is (close to) a fabric.
Joel
      From: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
 To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
 Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 9:53 AM
 Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Major Discovery Relating to "Whole Nine Yards"
   
Off-list an interesting question was raised about the use of the yard
measurement metaphorically and non-metaphorically. To clarify the
previous message, this message presents a longer excerpt. In this
case, the petition was a scroll, and it was exhibited. The yard
measurement was non-metaphorical (though it did not involve fabric.)
Of course, the phrase could easily be shifted to a metaphorical
application.

Date: January 23, 1847
Newspaper: Semi-weekly Union
Newspaper Location: Washington, DC
Quote Page 4
Database: GenealogyBank

[Begin excerpt]
Why, he begged leave to exhibit that petition--[unrolling an immense
scroll containing some hundreds of names.] He supposed that petition
was about four yards long. [A laugh.] There was another some six yards
long--and another--and another--being altogether over a thousand
signatures.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 9:06 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> While searching I did come across multiple instances of a document
> type with a length measured in yards: petitions with signatures. The
> following example from 1847 is in the time period of the 1850
> citation. The laugh indicated the humorous aspect of measuring a
> document in yards.
>
> Date: January 23, 1847
> Newspaper: Semi-weekly Union
> Newspaper Location: Washington, DC
> Quote Page 4
> Database: GenealogyBank
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> He supposed that petition was about four yards long. [A laugh.] There
> was another some six yards long--and another--and another--being
> altogether over a thousand signatures.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson

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