What is up with CKDextHavn and the origin of the phrase “the whole nine yards?”
Here are two threads in which he mentions it.
It’s obvious that he’s trying to be funny but not succeeding at it.
“[He] beat his fist down upon the table and hurt his hand and became so
further enraged… that he beat his fist down upon the table even harder and
hurt his hand some more.” – Joseph Heller’s Catch-22
It’s an old joke from the old board. DickMacy was quite good at it too, IIRC, but we don’t see him 'round these parts. 
::singing::
-Melin
I’m a woman phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That’s me
(Maya Angelou)
Then I guess I’m one of the few people here who has never used AOL.
“[He] beat his fist down upon the table and hurt his hand and became so
further enraged… that he beat his fist down upon the table even harder and
hurt his hand some more.” – Joseph Heller’s Catch-22
me:
[quote]
The “whole nine yards” refers to a three masted ship under full sail;
Yards were the spars that held the sails to the masts, and would usually be taken down if not in use (at least the topmost yards). A ship carrying nine yards was one that was giving it all she had, literally throwing caution to the wind. Too much sail could damage a mast, so the “full nine yards” means giving it all you’ve got regardless of the consequences.
CK:
popokis5:
Shadowfox:
more CK:
even more CK:
still more CK:
Um, Papabear, why would you TAKE DOWN the yard when not in use? That’s a lot of work. I don’t think it was even usually done in bad weather. You furl the sails; the spars stay where they are.
Still, it’s the most sensible explanation I’ve heard yet. Maybe the idiom is a contraction of a saying like “they were carrying sail on the whole nine yards” or something like that.
I personally could not care less where that stupid phrase came from, but I know for a fact it refers to the capacity of that Ready-Mix truck that had its load dumped into my friend’s convertible by the guy who drove the truck whose wife he was screwing my friend told me.
A WWII veteran told me that machine gun ammunition measured 27 ft, and when it was all used up, they said that they gave it “the whole nine yards”
Dead Thread Walking!
Wow. Here’s some names you don’t see much anymore.
A BBQ Pit thread with no profanity. Spooky stuff. Why was it resurrected?
Perhaps, the number of posts that shows under honeycombee’s name may give you a clue.
Well, hey, give a new poster the benefit of the doubt, I always say.