Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The whole nine yards" or "the full nine yards" is a colloquial American English phrase meaning "everything, the whole lot" or, when used as an adjective, "all the way". [1] Its first usage was the punch line of an 1855 Indiana comedic short story titled "The Judge's Big Shirt".
Whole nine yards: The actual origin of the phrase "the whole nine yards" is a mystery, and nearly all claimed explanations are easily proven false. Incorrect explanations include the length of machine gun belts, the capacity of concrete mixers (in cubic yards), various types of fabric, and many other explanations.
The expression "the whole nine yards" can be dated back to ancient Greece. It is a nautical term which was derived from three horizontal poles that hold up the sails on a square-rigged sailing ship. Each pole had three yards and for full force one would apply "the whole nine yards". refer to H.A. Harris, Sport in Greece and Rome (London 1972.
This book includes use of the phrase "the whole nine yards", an old American colloquialism. [7] Personal life. Shepard was married to George Hartmann. [8] Films
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
"To go the whole nine yards" "A cat has nine lives" "To be on cloud nine" The word "K-9" pronounces the same as canine and is used in many US police departments to denote the police dog unit. Despite not sounding like the translation of the word canine in other languages, many police and military units around the world use the same designation.
The Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” has sparked social media-fueled backlash in the lead-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.
A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context. [1] [2] In 1768, John Ray defined a proverbial phrase as: