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OK, ok! I did the search here, and I don't understand the whole nine yards bit, and tsuwmn's link from last year (March) didn't take me a millimeter closer to finding the first thing about the whole nine yards.
And, of Troy, that construction description of yours didn't make sense to my mind, which is always way out there far from things like cement! Ooh, my aching feet stuck in cement! Can't move much.
So, from Ozoneland here, what is this whole nine yards bit about? If it's construction, is it nine square yards?
Completely spaced out on this one,
OrB~ and please pardon the introduction of a repeated topic
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Carpal Tunnel
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was the link to Quinion? http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/nineyards.htmyou don't like his non-answer? there are some mysteries in our language and it would appear that this is one. Quinion: If you're hoping for a definitive answer, you'd better buy a crystal ball. I have to say straight away this is one of the great unsolved mysteries of modern etymology, for which many seek the truth and almost as many find explanations, but hardly anyone has a clue. What we do know is that the phrase is recorded from the 1960s, is an Americanism (it's nothing like so well known in Britain, for example), and has the meaning of "everything; all of it; the whole lot; the works". But there are no leads anyone can discover to a reasonable idea of where it came from.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Gotta go with tsuwm (and Quinion) here. There's zillions of explanations and every one of them has something seriously wrong with it.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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Dear tsuwm,
The link I tried took me to a page where there were just a lot of choices, so I clicked on "Phrases," and among the phrases listed was the notable absence of "whole nine yards." I probably was off-course.
Thanks for pasting the mystery.
All for life's mysteries,
OrB~
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Carpal Tunnel
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You can always count on the Board for the whole nine yards on any subject!
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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the whole nine yardsAw, everybody knows it came from "the full monty"!  which has a similar meaning and has the same etymological haze surrounding it...try searching the board for that one if you have a few days to spare, OrionsBelt~...another much-discussed (to say the least!) enigma. My apologies to the board for bringing the f.m. phrase up again, but it did seem relevant here.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Whit,
And to complicate matters, consider the Emperor's new clothes being made of the whole nine yards as he showed off the full monty!
Rocketing outta here into the stratosphere,
OrB~ -- Wordwind -- Whatever -- Life is confusing!
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Me, I'm still working on the whole nine inches! Cannot tell whether I'm coming or going here. Is there some mystical meaning for nine? I mean, we got the cat o'nine tails... Why nine, I ask you? And how 'bout the Beatles and "Number nine, number nine, number nine"! What was that all about?
And then, since I'm on the subject of how weird numbers are, why do people say, "I'm all sixes and sevens here"?
I don't get it.
Don't even know who I bloody am anymore,
OrB~ (I think...I think I got it right this time!)
And, come to think of it, bloody Clementine's shoes--those herring boxes--were number nine! What's this with nine anyway????
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh, mighty nightly warrior, what a great thought! (has anyone else been keeping track of Jupitor? now days, it can be seen nightly, in north, very close to Orion)
Yes, certain numbers have "magical" qualities.. 7-- it is thought that the seven planets known to the ancient started seven off as a lucky number, but i have never (and i don't remember reading anything here) explored why we use that set of characters (well, we did a bit on Octo (Hi, ya Love(land) Child Jazzo!) and i know octo (eight) goes back to latin and further to greek.. but now i am going to start exploring and see if any numbers have any magicical connotations in their roots.. (crossing threads.. an other theme? Words you can count on?
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Carpal Tunnel
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since I'm on the subject of how weird numbers areLooks like you're behind the eight ball on this one, OrB~! 
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