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

[Dan Goncharoff]

Perhaps, in the 18th century, their dials only went to nine...

DanG

On Tue, Apr 12, 2016 at 5:15 PM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:

> 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
>
> |   |
> |   |  |   |   |   |   |   |
> | 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... |
> |  |
> | View on www.todayifoundout... | Preview by Yahoo |
> |  |
> |   |
>
>
>
> "... 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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