> > > My boss steadfastly maintains that machine gun bullets, or some such wartime ammunition, used to
> > > come in lengths of 9 yards, hence.....
> >
> > "The term, 'the whole 9 yards' came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When aircraft were being armed on the ground, it was found that an ammo belt containing enough .50 caliber machine gun ammo to completely fill the ammo boxes in the wings measured exactly 27 feet in length. So, if the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got 'the whole 9 yards.'"
>
> Yeah, like I said....

Well I don't know. The artillery explanation makes sense on the surface, but it seems overly contrived and apocryphal -- like the tale of the JATO (solid rocket fuel)-assisted Chevy Impala found embedded in a cliffside in the Arizona desert. IMHO, the "whole nine yards" is more likely derived from a field where measuring in yards would have critical everyday significance. In other words, something like a nautical sheet explanation along the lines of Brunnen-G's is more probable.

Wolf "Now explain what 'Three sheets to the wind' has to do with drunkenness" spirit