Quote:
Originally Posted by ClunkintheUK
The phrase "the whole 9 yards" comes from WW2. The cannons on a Spitfire or Hurricane had about 7 seconds of belt fed ammunition. The belts were 9 yards long. These were normally fired in short bursts and their focus would be on multiple planes in a single engagement. But if they expended all their ammunition in a single burst or at a single target they said they gave them "the whole 9 yards".
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Sorry a few factual errors. Spitfires and Hurricanes were both armed originally with eight .303 Browning machine guns, they were not fitted with cannon until 1941/42. Also the Hispano cannon were drum fed not belt fed. So if referring to the length of the ammunition belts it must refer to the Browning machine gun equipped planes. If this is the case, then both the Spitfire and Hurricane had enough ammunition for 16 seconds continuous firing (not 7 seconds) and generally Hurricanes always had a little more.
I really don't think this is the origin of the phrase 'the whole 9 yards' and wikipedia seems to agree
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards
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