# Whole nine yards

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 23, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674 "2003-12-23T18:13:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DawnaF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@DawnaF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DawnaF)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674/1 "2003-12-23T18:13:02Z")

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I just read the archive on the phrase “whole nine yards”. There were several theories batted around, but the theory I heard was not one of them. I had been told that the phrase came from WWII and went something like this: the machine guns’ cartridge belts were nine yards long, so to shoot at a target and exhaust an entire belt on it was to give it the “whole nine yards”. Can anyone in the Teeming Masses back this up?

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Link to Column: [What’s the origin of “the whole nine yards”?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_252.html) – CKDH

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674/2 "2003-12-23T19:22:09Z")

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There are plenty of explanations of “the whole nine yards” that no-one can prove. That is one of them.

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**Author:** ![SkyCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SkyCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyCowboy)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674/3 "2003-12-23T19:41:54Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by DawnaF \*  
> \*\* I had been told that the phrase came from WWII and went something like this: the machine guns’ cartridge belts were nine yards long, so to shoot at a target and exhaust an entire belt on it was to give it the “whole nine yards”. \*\*

Specifically, a belt of .50 cal ammunition for the Browning machine guns in the wings of the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang.

Personally, I like the theory that it took 9 yards of fabric to make a top quality wedding dress in the Gay 90s\*. (1890s that is.) As in when the dress maker would ask the father of the bride-to-be (while eyeing a fat profit), “Sir, should I use the whole nine yards?”

Merry Christmas,

Sky

\*I just realized I hadn’t heard the phrase “Gay 90s” in 15-20 years.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-nine-yards/220674/4 "2003-12-24T00:46:59Z")

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Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, **DawnaF** , glad to have you with us.

When you start a thread, it’s helpful to others if you provide a link to the column you’re commenting on. Helps keep us all on the same page. No biggie, I’ve edited the link as a footnote to your post. You’ll know for next time.

The machine gun bit, so far as I am aware, has neither been proved nor disproved. One obstacle – the first appearance in print of “whole nine yards” is the early 1960s. It is hard to imagine that a phrase that was in use during WWII would not appear in print until 17 or 18 years later.