Re: Marvel at my stupidity

[Deborah McDaniel <DeborahM -at- CAPTURA -dot- COM>]

Okey-dokey (don't know the origin of this one...):
The expression *is* "by the skin of my teeth" and means that you did
whatever and got by with it by a very slim margin (think of it as the "skim
on your teeth" if need be).
There is some controversy about the origin of "the whole nine yards." I've
heard two candidates and don't know which is more accurate, though I'm
inclined to the first, since it's older.
1.From garment-making and weaving. A kilt would take an entire bolt (nine
yards) of cloth to make.
2.From upholstering. A full-size sofa (or divan, or couch, or
whateveryoucallit) would take nine yards to completely upholster.
3.From construction (most modern). A full load of concrete (one of those
mixer trucks you hope doesn't crash in front of you) holds nine yards of
concrete - a yard being also a liquid measure of concrete (I *think* it's a
cubic yard, but I'm not sure.
Wishing I had a dictionary of slang in front of me, but enjoying the thread
immensely,

Deborah McDaniel
Technical Writer
Captura Software, Inc.
deborahm -at- captura -dot- com

-----Original Message-----
From: barry -dot- kieffer -at- EXGATE -dot- TEK -dot- COM [mailto:barry -dot- kieffer -at- EXGATE -dot- TEK -dot- COM]
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 1999 1:43 PM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Re: Marvel at my stupidity

Maybe someone could enlighten me, what does "The Whole Nine Yards" mean?

In football it takes the whole ten yards for a first down.

Is this from a European game?

-Barry

> And now my 2 dollars.....
>
> My pet peeve is when someone says "I could care less."  I always
> want to say "Then why don't you?"
>
> Kathi Jan Knill
> Sr. Technical Writer
>

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