# The whole nine yards

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/102227>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 6, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/102227 "2002-04-06T23:29:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![skyward22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@skyward22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skyward22)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/102227/1 "2002-04-06T23:29:00Z")

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In World War II the ammunition belts in airplanes were 27 feet or 9 yards long. When you used all your ammo on one enemy plane it was said that he got the whole nine yards. :wally

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/102227/2 "2002-04-07T00:04:09Z")

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When commenting on one of Cecil’s columns, it is customary to provide a [link](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_252.html) to said column. Thank you.

We have chatted about this before in this forum [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=573) , [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1379) , [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1734) , [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2905) , [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29921) , [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50725) , [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63008) , and maybe even [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70677) .

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**Author:** ![jonp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@jonp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonp)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/102227/3 "2002-04-07T04:45:49Z")

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The problem with this theory is that “the whole nine yards” doesn’t appear in print until the 1960s. If it was a common expression during World War II, then it should have appeared in print in the 1940s or the 1950s somehow.

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**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/102227/4 "2002-04-07T21:12:03Z")

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Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, skyward 22!

It often helps to search the Archives before posting a question or comment, as many have been discussed before. As Czarcasm notes, there are no fewer than eight previous threads on “the whole nine yards” in the last year alone. The settled opinion is that Cecil is right (no surprise) – no one knows. A search of other reputable language sites will reveal the same.

– Beruang

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**Author:** ![Rocket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Rocket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocket)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/102227/5 "2002-04-12T18:07:53Z")

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Alright, here it is, the definitive answer, a mnemonic device;

thorium - helium  
tungsten - hydrogen - oxygen - lithium - erbium  
nickel - neon  
yttrium - argon - dysprosium - sulfur

ThHe WHeOLiEr Nine YArDyS

When you add their atomic numbers;

90+2+74+1+8+3+68+28+10+39+18+66+16 = 423

is divisible by 9.

This, of course, is the chemical makeup of BULLSHIT!