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

[Stephen Goranson]

I agree that Bonnie Taylor-Blake has been the trailblazer on "the whole nine yards." 
The Democratic Banner newspaper that Library of Congress Chronicling America lists as published in Bowling Green, Missouri was actually published (according to the paper itself) in Louisiana, Missouri. W. F. Kennedy may have been replying to a publication in a different newspaper, perhaps the Louisiana Record, a weekly, by Thomas H. Ellis, beginning with Vol. 1, no. 1 (Apr. 6, 1849)-. According to WorldCat  (OCLC 19418771), The State Historical Society of Missouri owns just one issue from 1850, <1850:5:3>. That might seem too early to contain Edwin Draper's dated (and later published) contribution.
I agree that it is possible that Kennedy might have been quoting a use by Draper of "nine yards" (or "the nine yards," "my nine yards," etc.?). I agree that this use (among others) tends to support the theory that the earliest forms of the idiom for the most part seem to allude to lengthy oral or written presentations. I used to suppose--apparently wrongly--twice--that there was some historical, dateable referent in the nine yards. But I continue to guess that generally there is no literal linear measuring of 36-inch yards, especially, for instance, in cases of yards of recited poetry. "The whole nine yards" (which we don't have in the 1850 text) may just sound more impressive or emphatic than "the whole six yards." 

For a little history of Louisiana MO, including Kennedy and Draper:
dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/64500933.pdf

The Democratic Banner (via LC) includes other mentions of Edwin Draper. E.g., "Who Told That Lie?" in the same page and column Bonnie mentioned (her note [1] below).

Stephen Goranson
http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society ... on behalf of Bonnie Taylor-Blake ...
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 7:40 PM
To: ...
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Major Discovery Relating to "Whole Nine Yards"

I'm not sure that I've been a trailblazer on this front (but thanks
for that anyway, Fred); it's pretty much that I've been lucky,
sometimes finding something just barely before any number of you have
found it yourselves.

I thank Fred, too, for letting me know about this a few days ago.

I think Mr. Bucci's find is very exciting, because to me it does
indeed hint at the fuller idiom.  It's not just how "your [last] 'nine
yards'" is used, but also -- as Fred has mentioned -- how "nine yards"
has been set within quotation marks.  (It also tends to support the
theory that the earliest forms of the idiom for the most part seem to
allude to lengthy oral or written presentations, which is something I
lean toward.)

I've tried to track down Edwin Draper's comments in "the Record,"
which Kennedy alludes to in an earlier piece [1], because I think it
would be helpful to see what Kennedy was responding to.  In other
words, what exactly about Draper's commentary or notice made it his
"'nine yards'"?

On the other hand, it occurs to me that we can't rule out the slight
chance that Kennedy is simply quoting from Draper; perhaps Draper had
earlier used "nine yards" in a piece appearing in "the Record" and
that Kennedy is merely repeating Draper's earlier usage of the
apparent idiom.

Trouble is, I can't figure out what "the Record" was.  Was it a
newspaper or similar local publication?  (Draper looks to have been a
Whig; could the Record have been a Whig newspaper?)  I hope someone
else has success with this.

To my mind (for what it's worth), there's still not enough to tell us
whether Kennedy's use of "nine yards" was ultimately based on
something tangible or whether it was just a colorful expression.  And
I try not to dwell on that issue of origin, because it always drives
me a little nuts.  Instead, I'm fine with waiting for still earlier
sightings along the lines of Mr. Bucci's that may give us better
clues.

Anyway, my thanks go to Fred, for passing this along, and to Mr. Bucci
for sending it to Fred.

-- Bonnie


[1] http://tinyurl.com/ptfu93v

MR. EDITOR, -- I ask your indulgence for the use of your columns, for
the purpose of answering the assertions made against me in a
communication in the Record of 20th Sept., signed "Common Sense,"
alias "Old Ball," alias "Edwin Draper."  As he has made as near a
personal matter as he could well, I shall treat it as such in part at
least, as I come in for a good share of his malice in his
communication.

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