'The Whole Nine Yards' Myth: Debunked by Firearms Expert Jonathan Ferguson
Royal Armouries
Apr 8, 2026 15:15
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Chapters
Why do people say “the whole nine yards”… and what does it actually mean?
In this special spin-off of What Is This Weapon? titled 'Myths & Misconceptions', Jonathan explores one of the most persistent myths in firearms history, the idea that the phrase comes from aircraft machine gun ammunition belts.
Sources/Reading for Whole Nine Yards;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards (yes, really! all other sources on this are out of date or just wrong)
*editor note* Cue meme of Henry Cavil stating his dissappointment of using wikipedia as a source of information)
Original for 'The Judge's Shirt' - https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7JFRAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22what%20a%20silly%20stupid%20woman!%22&pg=PA163#v=onepage&q&f=false
'The Stupid Boy' (in which a mother sends a boy out to sell three yards of cloth at a time - no telling if this might pre-date The Judge's Shirt but it wasn't collected until the 1880s); https://archive.org/details/folklorejournal06folkuoft/page/184/
Article reference: Jonathan Ferguson & Terence Smith '"One in the breech, five in the magazine”: British Aircrew Armament of the First World War', ARMAX: The Journal of Contemporary Arms Vol. VIII No.I 2022. (Back issue available at https://www.headstamppublishing.com/purchase/p/armax-vol-viii-no-1-springsummer-2022)
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