#33546
06/25/2001 3:11 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1 |
My personal theory is that the word, monty comes from the French, monte, meaning "to show".
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#33547
06/25/2001 5:19 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17 |
I always heard that General Montgomery, commander of the British forces during WW II, demanded a "Full English Breakfast" every day no matter what the circumstances of the war. The British, always fast to generate new slang or catch phrases, began to refer to the meal as the Full Monty and thence to anything that was total or even over the top.
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#33548
06/25/2001 7:30 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Here is a fascinating and thorough discussion on the possible origins of the phrase "the full monty" (including the two mentioned above), an excerpt from the newsletter of the Quote/Unquote I mentioned a little while back (the piece is just a bit too long to copy and paste here)...the URL: http://www1.btwebworld.com/quote-unquote/p0000029.htm
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#33550
06/25/2001 8:02 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Forgive us, llama32. I think we now have a full potty.
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#33551
06/25/2001 11:06 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
We *could discuss this where it belongs... [bringing out dead-horse emoticon for the non-newbies]
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#33552
06/25/2001 11:37 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
A Word for Today is not a Weekly Theme. Wordsmith posts the Weekly Themes, and they never refer to only one word.
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#33553
06/25/2001 11:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
A Word for Today is not a Weekly Theme. Wordsmith posts the Weekly Themes, and they never refer to only one word. Miscellany refers to varied kinds, so any thing can be included there.
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#33554
06/26/2001 1:08 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
possible origins of the full monty as per Faldage's "No! no! no! etc...Sorry, Faldage, but that sounds like ullage to me!  And, now, here's a URL featuring ME and MY OWN message on THIS board!...oh, wait!...I think somebody just did that, didn't they?   And, by the way, welcome to the board llama22 and Casey-Canada, albeit in the middle of this full monty python three-ring circus we seem to be having! Well, at least you know you can be loose and humorous here!
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#33555
06/26/2001 7:52 AM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
that the word, monty comes from the French, monte, meaning "to show".
Sorry, llama22, but the phrase had nothing to do with show (although it seems to have taken on this meaning, particularly in US, since the film), and monte would have to have dropped the r from montre.
But many theories are no better, so you could still be right.
Rod
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#33556
06/26/2001 10:53 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
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#33557
06/27/2001 12:19 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
It is funny that nobody yet mentioned the German expression in voller Montur which was certainly in use before 1980 in the sense of "completely dressed up with all accessories" referring to uniforms, also of students' associations etc.
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