buffnut453
Captain
The problem is there are examples of the phrase being used long before 50 cal ammo belts were even thought of (e.g. pre-WW1).
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Pretty much the first explanation I heard many years ago too.
The origin of the whole nine yards is probably never going to be settled although there are mid 1800's references which equate to
other phrases such as the whole ball of wax and the whole enchilada. One reference was the silly woman story where a man told
his wife to buy enough material to make three shirts and she used 'the whole nine yards and made just one'.
Just to muddy it further, in Kentucky and South Carolina a similar expression to the whole ball of wax used to be 'the whole six yards'.
Inflation ?
Wrapped bread according to this. "An American inventor named Otto Rohwedder devised a machine that sliced a loaf of bread into individual slices. First sold in 1928, it was touted as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped," which led to popular phrase "the best thing since sliced bread."Regarding idioms, "the greatest thing since sliced bread" poses an obvious question: what was the greatest thing before sliced bread came along? Apparently, to something I heard or read somewhere long ago, it was "the greatest thing since radio."
I like it and I'm sticking with it.Wrapped bread according to this. "An American inventor named Otto Rohwedder devised a machine that sliced a loaf of bread into individual slices. First sold in 1928, it was touted as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped," which led to popular phrase "the best thing since sliced bread."
You youngsters don't remember when beer came in steel cans and you needed a church key to open it.
You youngsters don't remember when beer came in steel cans and you needed a church key to open it.
Original Coors Yellow Jacket. Still available.Stubby bottles. Remember stubby beer bottles?
The more you drank them, the better they looked.