[Ads-l] "(dressed) to the nine" (yards?)

[Joel Berson]

Has anyone examined a possible connection between "(dressed) to the nines" and "the whole nine yards"?

At least one has, and denies a connection --  April 18, 2014   Daven Hiskey (who seems not to have seen the online OED's inclusion of the 1719 and other quotations through 1835 in its 2003 update of "nine"; see earlier in their article).

 Where The Expression "Dressed to the Nines" Came From

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| Where The Expression "Dressed to the Nines" Came FromSamira asks: Why do we say “dressed to the nines” when someone’s dressed up? Like so many etymologies of expressions and words, we can only make educated guesse... |
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"... it appears “to the nines” was around before it was associated with clothing. For instance, over a century before the first documented reference of “dressed to the nines,” we have the Epistle to Ramsay by William Hamilton (1719), where he stated,
The bonny Lines therin thou sent me, How to the nines they did content me.
>From this, we can see how one would come up with the expression “dressed to the nines” from the existing expression more or less meaning “perfect.” Further, we can safely discount such often put forth conjectures that the expression “dressed to the nines” came from tailors using nine yards of material to make a finely crafted suit of clothing (which is also often put forth as the origin of “the whole nine yards,” which we cover the origin of in full here.)"

The OED has "dressed to the nines" for this 1719 quote and others through 1835 and beyond.  So it antedates as well as exists contemporaneously with early "the whole nine yards" quotations.  And both connect with cloth.

P.S.  ? What is the currently earliest date foe "the whole nine yards"?  I've lost track.


Joel

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