2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 26, 2019 20:50:35 GMT -5
There seems to be some debate but I believe it to be of WW2 origination NOT sports. Anyone?
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shiftysgarand
Corporal
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Post by shiftysgarand on Jun 26, 2019 22:28:01 GMT -5
The version I have heard is that the ammunition belts of the .50 caliber machine guns in fighter planes like the P-51 and P-47 were approximately 9 yards long, and the expression came into expanded use from that. However, upon googling the phrase, it appears to have been in use as early as 1921 as “the whole six yards.” There’s more in this article: www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/books/the-whole-nine-yards-seeking-a-phrases-origin.html
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 27, 2019 11:21:21 GMT -5
Shifty you are the man! Not only did you come up with the source I was aware of (Aircraft links being 27 feet long) but you enlightened me to just how complex the question is. My dad (a WW2 vet) used the expression all the time
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Post by volkssturm on Jun 27, 2019 19:03:07 GMT -5
Just out of curiosity, I looked up how much .50 a P-47 carried. It was 3400 rounds total for the 8 guns, or 425 per gun. I don't know how many rounds equaled a yard of belt, but the base diameter of the .50 BMG is .804 inch, so it would be reasonable to guess about 40 - 42 rounds to a yard, so a belt for one gun would be about 10 yards long or a bit longer.
The P-40, on the other hand, only carried 235 rds per each wing mounted .50. The P-51 carried 380 rds for the inboard guns and 270 for the outer guns.
So I think the machine gun belt length is pretty much unlikely.
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Post by norseman on Jun 28, 2019 0:48:20 GMT -5
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Post by volkssturm on Jun 28, 2019 10:36:13 GMT -5
I like the "Judge's Big Shirt" story. That actually seems plausible. The seamstress using all nine yards of cloth in one shirt instead of three. But would you actually need three yards of cloth for one shirt?
As far as kilts go, I came across a YouTube video about how to put on original Scottish kilt, which was one wide, long piece of cloth. The guy doing it said his was 15 feet long. A website I found on it said they could be up to seven yards long and five feet wide.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 29, 2019 20:46:29 GMT -5
"hang him from the yard arm". I had forgotten that a sailing ships sail was called a yard. I now like the notion that "give it all six yards, or all nine yards " could be a sailing expression for hoist all sails. For sure the expression has evolved. I absolutely can attest to the fact that when asked, my father thought it was the full belt of linked ammo in an aircraft and that it was a WW2 expression. In his mind. He used the expression frequently to denote "going all in" or "putting out maximum effort."
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