And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Several years ago The American Rifleman magazine had an article attributing th phrase to the ammunition belts used by WW 1 aviators, British as I recall. And, if memory serves, Quentin Reynolds, in his book, “They Fought For The Sky" (1957).
The version I heard was for kilts. It takes nine yards of tartan cloth to make a traditional kilt used during formal occasions like weddings (versus one used to do chores around the farm or fight in battle). So, when ordering a full-dress kilt from the tailor one would say "the full nine yards".
That's a fun "fact" but there are about 6,000 different backstories for "9 yards"
ReplyDeleteI learned that it was about concrete trucks......
I heard it was about dump trucks.
DeleteFirst used according to Wikipedia around 1855...not many warbirds then.
ReplyDeleteNot any machine guns at all, air or ground.
DeleteJohn Moses Browning, (PBUH) was still in diapers about that time.
DeleteSeveral years ago The American Rifleman magazine had an article attributing th phrase to the ammunition belts used by WW 1 aviators, British as I recall. And, if memory serves, Quentin Reynolds, in his book, “They Fought For The Sky" (1957).
ReplyDeleteYeah...no.
ReplyDeletePretty much about as reliable as the Abe Lincoln quote telling you not to believe everything you find on the internet.
Or Joepedo telling us FDR went on TV in during the stock market crash.
DeleteThree sheets to the wind I can understand.
ReplyDeleteThe version I heard was for kilts. It takes nine yards of tartan cloth to make a traditional kilt used during formal occasions like weddings (versus one used to do chores around the farm or fight in battle). So, when ordering a full-dress kilt from the tailor one would say "the full nine yards".
ReplyDelete