Bronze Supporter
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Maybe this has been done before. Maybe not. I'm fascinated by word and phrase origins. Expressions people use like:
- Wet your whistle.
- Sleep tight.
- Tongue in cheek.
- Top brass.
For instance, I've heard a number of seemingly plausible explanations for "the whole nine yards."
- 9 square yards of main sail on a wooden ship.
- 9 cubic yards of capacity in an oldschool dumptruck.
- Something to do with a bolt of fabric.
- 27 feet of belted ammo in each wing of a WWII fighter plane (surely my favorite).
Rather than viewing pasted citations from OED or wikipedia, I'm more interested in collective lore. Should be no shortage of opinions here I reckon.
- Wet your whistle.
- Sleep tight.
- Tongue in cheek.
- Top brass.
For instance, I've heard a number of seemingly plausible explanations for "the whole nine yards."
- 9 square yards of main sail on a wooden ship.
- 9 cubic yards of capacity in an oldschool dumptruck.
- Something to do with a bolt of fabric.
- 27 feet of belted ammo in each wing of a WWII fighter plane (surely my favorite).
Rather than viewing pasted citations from OED or wikipedia, I'm more interested in collective lore. Should be no shortage of opinions here I reckon.