What does "the whole nine yards" mean?
What it means: Everything - the complete amount, the full extent of something."They gave us the whole treatment - champagne, flowers, the whole nine yards.""If you're going to do it, do the whole nine yards.""She had the full set-up: projector, handouts, the whole nine yards."What it implies: Com...
What it means
Everything - the complete amount, the full extent of something.
"They gave us the whole treatment - champagne, flowers, the whole nine yards."
"If you're going to do it, do the whole nine yards."
"She had the full set-up: projector, handouts, the whole nine yards."
What it implies
Completeness - nothing held back. You're going all the way, including every element.
The origin
Nobody is certain. Theories include: the length of a WWII aircraft machine gun ammunition belt (27 feet), Scottish kilts requiring nine yards of fabric, or concrete mixer trucks holding nine cubic yards. None has been definitively proven. The phrase first appeared in print in the 1960s.
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Casual American English. British speakers understand it but wouldn't typically use it themselves - the whole lot, everything, or the full works are more British.
A native would say
- "The whole lot" - British
- "Everything" - direct
- "The full works" - British, slightly playful: "She went for the full works."
- "All of it" - simple
- "Every last bit" - emphatic
What does "the whole nine yards" mean?
Everything - the complete amount, the full extent of something.
"They gave us the whole treatment - champagne, flowers, the whole nine yards."
"If you're going to do it, do the whole nine yards."
"She had the full set-up: projector, handouts, the whole nine yards."
Is "the whole nine yards" formal or informal?
Casual American English. British speakers understand it but wouldn't typically use it themselves - the whole lot, everything, or the full works are more British.
What's another way to say "the whole nine yards"?
- "The whole lot" - British
- "Everything" - direct
- "The full works" - British, slightly playful: "She went for the full works."
- "All of it" - simple
- "Every last bit" - emphatic
Idioms like this trip up even advanced learners.
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