# The Whole Nine Yards **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 2, 1999, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282 "1999-07-02T00:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 1999, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/1 "1999-07-02T00:29:00Z")
What is up with CKDextHavn and the origin of the phrase “the whole nine yards?” Here are two threads in which he mentions it. > [@](#): > > [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000079.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000079.html) > But I’ll give you this to think about: the distance between the spot where Kennedy was shot (his car) and the grassy knoll where a hidden gunman was craftily concealed… that distance is EXACTLY NINE YARDS. This is why, to this day, we talk about the whole nine yards. > [@](#): > > [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/001283.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/001283.html) > You’re free to believe anything you want, no extra charge. > But the real true actual reason is that they circle around EXACTLY nine yards, so that’s the origin of the expression “the whole nine yards.” > > No, wait, I lie, the really real true actual correct reason is that their right front foot is shorter than their left front foot, and so they sort of walk in circles, thinking they’re going downhill. 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 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 1999, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/2 "1999-07-02T00:37:00Z")
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) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 1999, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/3 "1999-07-02T00:51:00Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 1999, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/4 "1999-07-02T00:58:00Z")
me: [quote] The “whole nine yards” refers to a three masted ship under full sail; 1. The foresail yard 2. The fore topsail yard 3. The fore topgallant yard 4. The mainsail yard 5. The main topsail yard 6. The main topgallant yard 7. The mizzensail yard 8. The mizzen topsail yard 9. The mizzen topgallant yard 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: > [@](#): > > I thought it was originally the whole nine CARDS, from the little-known poker variant of nine-card draw. If you got a really dreadful hand, you could replace the entire nine cards in your hand, hence… But over time, the expression was misheard. popokis5: > [@](#): > > I remember hearing that in the old (?) days, it took approximately 9 yards of fabric to make a really top-notch dress. So if you could, you went “the whole nine yards”. Shadowfox: > [@](#): > > The expression “the whole nine yards” comes from W.W.II aircraft whose ammo belts were 27 feet long. When you used your entire ammo belt on a target, you gave it “the whole nine yards.” more CK: > [@](#): > > Susan B. Anthony’s wedding dress was made from 11 yards of material. It was originally supposed to be made from the traditional whole nine yards of material, but her dressmaker got carried away. even more CK: > [@](#): > > I don’t know anything about word origins, but my second cousin on my mother’s side told my great-aunt that the origin of the expression “whole nine yards” was from the San Francisco 49ers who panned nine yards of water per hour… still more CK: > [@](#): > > In fact, they circle until their EARS are facing the music, because they know that it’s not over until the fat lady sings, and they wanna be facing the right way to hear her. Or, alternatively, when they do circle, the pace out EXACTLY nine yards, which lead to the famous saying… ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 1999, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/5 "1999-07-02T01:34:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 1999, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/6 "1999-07-02T02:24:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![honeycombee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@honeycombee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honeycombee)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/7 "2002-03-22T22:24:18Z")
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” ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/8 "2002-03-22T22:27:25Z")
Dead Thread Walking! ---
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/9 "2002-03-22T22:38:27Z")
Wow. Here’s some names you don’t see much anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/10 "2002-03-23T07:45:58Z")
A BBQ Pit thread with no profanity. Spooky stuff. Why was it resurrected? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/11 "2002-03-23T07:59:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > \*\*Why was it resurrected? \*\* Perhaps, the number of posts that shows under **honeycombee’s** name may give you a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/12 "2002-03-23T10:53:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\* > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/1282/13 "2002-03-23T11:46:42Z")
As long as its been bumped, if **honeycombee** is still around, here’s what [Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_252.html) had to say. And if you scroll to the bottom of [this page](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/001117.html) Cecil casts doubt onto the whole WWII theory. C’mon people, I’m usually the last person around here to start with the Cecil links. Somebody’s not doing their job…