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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!decwrl!flairvax!kissell
From: kissell@flairvax.UUCP (Kevin Kissell)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: the whole nine yards
Message-ID: <269@flairvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 16-Nov-83 14:30:36 EST
Article-I.D.: flairvax.269
Posted: Wed Nov 16 14:30:36 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Nov-83 23:22:45 EST
Organization: Fairchild AI Lab, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 9

The phrase is most emphatically NOT derived from American football
jargon.  I've chased it for years, and for a time thought it was
from nautical jargon, as in "nine sheets to the wind", since
on a three-master with nine sheets, you'd have nine yards to fly 'em.
I have recently been informed, however, that the phrase comes from
the building trades, where (portland) cement is purchased by the
cement truck load, and the capacity of a cement truck is
NINE CUBIC YARDS!