Naemanson & Kendall —

I ran across an article somewhere recently about odd phrases and their origins — wish I could remember where — and it discussed "the whole nine yards."

It nodded to the explanation Kendall put forth, but said the phrase was actually much older, harkening back to the days when women wore hooped skirts that took nine yards of material to make.

That much material was very expensive, so some innovative dressmaker figured out how to put in pleats to make the skirts look like they had all the material, but didn't — which meant they could be made and sold for less. For the rich, however, such economy was looked down upon (and just check those last three words for wierdness) and it became a matter of pride to get "the whole nine yards."

'Spaw — Have nothing to base it on except what I always figured about the word "book" to mean "go." I though it was just a shortened — or at least derived — form of the phrase "booked out," meaning to have your tickets. There's a blues dictionary site somewhere around here. I'll see if I can find it and give you a link.

I've also wondered if it might mean being signed out — as in logging the time y ou leave a place — but I've never seen any reference to that.

david