What exactly is "the whole nine yards?"

Moleman

Unfortunately, there may be no definitive answer. There are references to the size of a nun's habit, the amount of material needed to make a man's three-piece suit, the length of a maharajah's ceremonial sash, the capacity of a West Virginia ore wagon, the volume of rubbish that would fill a standard garbage truck, the length of a hangman's noose, how far you would have to sprint during a jail break to get from the cellblock to the outer wall, the length of a standard bolt of cloth, the volume of a rich man's grave, or just possibly the length of his shroud, the size of a soldier's pack, the length of cloth needed for a Scottish 'great kilt', or some distance associated with sports or athletics, especially the game of American football. See http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/nineyards.htm Feb 15 01, 9:42 AM

jim	The whole nine yards is also from WWII fighter pilots who wanted to make sure that they were totally loaded with ammo. The ammo belts were 27 feet or nine yards. Feb 15 01, 12:33 PM