Economists and pundits have made some of these cliches. Add your own... Uncharted waters Righting the ship On an even keel Wind out of your sails Prevailing winds All hands on deck In the catbird seat On the rocks Tacking upwind Over the yardarm Take the soundings
Sailing Metaphors
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I like the cut of your jib Backing and filling Son of a gun Cat house Red Light district Spick and span Between the devil and the deep What is the catbird seat? All the best, Robert Gainer
I like the cut of your jib Backing and filling Son of a gun Cat house Red Light district Spick and span Between the devil and the deep What is the catbird seat? All the best, Robert Gainer
And
He is a loafer 3 sheets to the wind without a clew two ships passing in the night queer as a loon he's all jacked up and the always popular "is is cold enough to freeze the balls (cannon) off a brass monkey (plate of brass where cannon balls are stored)"
He is a loafer 3 sheets to the wind without a clew two ships passing in the night queer as a loon he's all jacked up and the always popular "is is cold enough to freeze the balls (cannon) off a brass monkey (plate of brass where cannon balls are stored)"
a few more
Three for Iraq (pick, depending on your politics): Cut and run Making headway The bitter end And also: Knowing the ropes The whole nine yards Any port in a storm No room to swing a cat Posh Chock a block By and large Above board
Three for Iraq (pick, depending on your politics): Cut and run Making headway The bitter end And also: Knowing the ropes The whole nine yards Any port in a storm No room to swing a cat Posh Chock a block By and large Above board
or how about
It's cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey I'll put me rudder to that port and nary return
It's cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey I'll put me rudder to that port and nary return
The whole nine yards…
… could well be a cement truck, but only if the truck were square rigged. I believe it refers to three sails on each of three masts. However, I looked it up online (link attached) and found others claiming that said number of yards refers to coal trucks, gents suits, bridal veils, bolts of cloth, full-sized graves, WWII ammo belts and incomplete football runs. So you pays yer money and you takes yer choice. (Another nautical reference, this time pertaining to sailboats vs stinkpots.)
… could well be a cement truck, but only if the truck were square rigged. I believe it refers to three sails on each of three masts. However, I looked it up online (link attached) and found others claiming that said number of yards refers to coal trucks, gents suits, bridal veils, bolts of cloth, full-sized graves, WWII ammo belts and incomplete football runs. So you pays yer money and you takes yer choice. (Another nautical reference, this time pertaining to sailboats vs stinkpots.)
Nope...not cement trucks.
No one actually knows when the phrase "the whole nine yards" originated, or what it means. This website provides a whole bunch of theories: http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/nineyards.htm
No one actually knows when the phrase "the whole nine yards" originated, or what it means. This website provides a whole bunch of theories: http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/nineyards.htm
I stand by me guns......
It's a full ready mix load. As trucks would go from construction sites, they would pour out however much, the whole thing being..... I know there's lots of sizes of cement truck mixers, but the famous saying came from them with 9 yards volume.
It's a full ready mix load. As trucks would go from construction sites, they would pour out however much, the whole thing being..... I know there's lots of sizes of cement truck mixers, but the famous saying came from them with 9 yards volume.
Cement/concrete? Maybe.
I just looked up cement mixing trucks on the National Ready Mixed Concrete Asssociation site and they say "Currently, because of weight laws, the typical truck mixer is a 9 to 11 yd3 unit". So, based on that, the idea of the "Whole nine yards" coming from the concrete industry is still in the running. Also from the statement from worldwidewords.org "It does seem rather unlikely that a term from such a specialist field would become so well known throughout North America" also leaves me with some room for thought. Consider that the 50's and 60's brought a whole new homeowning class of people and many of them had patio slabs poured as well as driveways. This was largely a 'do it yourself' society. So concrete mixing trucks were not strangers to the newly growing working lower middle class of America. "How much do you need?"......"I'll take the whole nine yards". Interesting and fun thread Thanks Tony B
I just looked up cement mixing trucks on the National Ready Mixed Concrete Asssociation site and they say "Currently, because of weight laws, the typical truck mixer is a 9 to 11 yd3 unit". So, based on that, the idea of the "Whole nine yards" coming from the concrete industry is still in the running. Also from the statement from worldwidewords.org "It does seem rather unlikely that a term from such a specialist field would become so well known throughout North America" also leaves me with some room for thought. Consider that the 50's and 60's brought a whole new homeowning class of people and many of them had patio slabs poured as well as driveways. This was largely a 'do it yourself' society. So concrete mixing trucks were not strangers to the newly growing working lower middle class of America. "How much do you need?"......"I'll take the whole nine yards". Interesting and fun thread Thanks Tony B
Concrete Truck Load
As an architect I remember the phrase being used on job sites in the '70s and the meaning was as someone stated earlier, the total load - the whole nine yards of the redimix truck.
As an architect I remember the phrase being used on job sites in the '70s and the meaning was as someone stated earlier, the total load - the whole nine yards of the redimix truck.
nine yards
I've heard that the whole nine yards refers to WWII fighter planes,the belts of .50 cal. ammo. were nine yards long so the whole nine yards ment to empty your guns on them.
I've heard that the whole nine yards refers to WWII fighter planes,the belts of .50 cal. ammo. were nine yards long so the whole nine yards ment to empty your guns on them.
Lynch that thief of a pirate
Slightly nautical! On a recent visit to Ireland we were told the story of a crimminal that was related (closely as I recall, like a SON) to the judge. The judge, Judge LYNCH had him (his son) hung! Hence the term "lynch".
Slightly nautical! On a recent visit to Ireland we were told the story of a crimminal that was related (closely as I recall, like a SON) to the judge. The judge, Judge LYNCH had him (his son) hung! Hence the term "lynch".
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