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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".
The word etymology is derived from the Ancient Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumologíā), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning ' true sense or sense of a truth ', and the suffix -logia, denoting ' the study or logic of '. [3] [4] The etymon refers to the predicate (i.e. stem [5] or root [6]) from which a later word or morpheme ...
The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain. In the form "rocks all the way down", the saying appears as early as 1838. [1] References to the saying's mythological antecedents, the World Turtle and its counterpart the World Elephant, were made by a number of authors in the 17th and 18th centuries. [2] [3]
More specifically, the phrase is used when a situation is (or appears to be) nearing its conclusion. It cautions against assuming that the current state of an event is irreversible and clearly determines how or when the event will end. The phrase is most commonly used in association with organized competitions, particularly sports.
An adaptation of the Old English word atter meaning "poison", and closely related to the word adder for the venomous crossed viper. Lexicographers William and Mary Morris in Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (1977) favour this derivation because "mad as a hatter" was known before hat making was a recognized trade. [1]
Ritz's le client n'a jamais tort was first recorded in 1908, and is sometimes cited as the origin of the term. [ 3 ] [ 9 ] Barry Pain used both terms in his 1917 Confessions of Alphonse , writing "The great success of a restaurant is built up on this principle— le patron n’a jamais tort —the customer is always in the right!".
Due to heavy Irish immigration in eastern Canada and New England in the 19th century, it is likely an anglicization of the Irish 'anacal', meaning deliverance or quarter. [2] A less likely theory is that it derives from a phrase uttered by youngsters in the Roman empire who got into trouble, patrue mi patruissime (“uncle, my best of uncles ...
When in Rome, do as the Romans do (Medieval Latin: Sī fuerīs Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; sī fuerīs alibī, vīvitō sīcut ibī), often shortened to when in Rome..., is a proverb attributed to Saint Ambrose.