I intended to post this today as a companion to the blog about a military reunion, because I had always heard the expression originated from a military expression about firing nine yard long belts of machine gun ammunition in WWII planes. A target had to be important to justify expending the “whole nine yards” of ammunition and leaving yourself without anything to defend the plane from attack. However, written references don’t pop up until the 1960s, which casts suspicion on it originating in WWII. The consensus is that the term did originate in the military, but several sources think it came from the Vietnam era. The Montagnard hill tribes that supported the U.S., and were commonly called “The Yards.” Robert L. Mole published The Montagnards of South Vietnam: A Study of Nine Tribes. Being supported by all the tribes would include the “whole nine yards.” Others speculate it might have come from a concrete truck delivering an entire load to one location, although concrete trucks usually are smaller or larger than nine yards. Still others speculate that the term comes from the amount of material used to make a custom suit, a wedding veil, colonial dresses, or burial shrouds. However, the actual amount of material used to make those usually isn’t nine yards. I think I’ll stick with my original thought and use the Montagnard explanation as a backup.