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

[Dan Goncharoff]

Can we find it in the Greek?
On Apr 12, 2016 8:27 PM, "Peter Reitan" <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> On Phrases.org.uk, Gary Martin makes a believable suggestion that the
> "nines" are the nine muses.  I've dug through quite a few early references
> that appear just before "dressed to the nines" proper, that seem consistent
> with a reference to the muses.  What ever is "to the nines (or nine)" is
> generally something like poetry, or song, or art; sometimes a poet
> dedicates something "to the nines".  In the case of dressing, it seems that
> they are dressed in such a manner that the muses would be pleased.
> http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/dressed-to-the-nines.html
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2016 21:15:30 +0000
> > From: berson at ATT.NET
> > Subject: "(dressed) to the nine" (yards?)
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      "(dressed) to the nine" (yards?)
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > 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
> oth=
> > er quotations through 1835 in its 2003 update of "nine"; see earlier in
> the=
> > ir article).
> >
> >  Where The Expression "Dressed to the Nines" Came From
> >
> > | =C2=A0 |
> > | =C2=A0 |  | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 | =C2=A0 |
> > | Where The Expression "Dressed to the Nines" Came FromSamira asks: Why
> do =
> > we say =E2=80=9Cdressed to the nines=E2=80=9D when someone=E2=80=99s
> dresse=
> > d up? Like so many etymologies of expressions and words, we can only
> make e=
> > ducated guesse... |
> > |  |
> > | View on www.todayifoundout... | Preview by Yahoo |
> > |  |
> > | =C2=A0 |
> >
> >
> >
> > "... it appears =E2=80=9Cto the nines=E2=80=9D was around before it was
> ass=
> > ociated with clothing. For instance, over a century before the first
> docume=
> > nted reference of =E2=80=9Cdressed to the nines,=E2=80=9D we have the
> Epist=
> > le 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
> =E2=80=9Cdr=
> > essed to the nines=E2=80=9D from the existing expression more or less
> meani=
> > ng =E2=80=9Cperfect.=E2=80=9D Further, we can safely discount such often
> pu=
> > t forth conjectures that the expression =E2=80=9Cdressed to the
> nines=E2=80=
> > =9D 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
> =E2=80=9C=
> > the whole nine yards,=E2=80=9D which we cover the origin of in full
> here.)"
> >
> > The OED has "dressed to the nines" for this 1719 quote and others
> through 1=
> > 835 and beyond.=C2=A0 So it antedates as well as exists
> contemporaneously w=
> > ith early "the whole nine yards" quotations.=C2=A0 And both connect with
> cl=
> > oth.
> >
> > P.S.=C2=A0 ? What is the currently earliest date foe "the whole nine
> yards"=
> > ?=C2=A0 I've lost track.
> >
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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