IdiomDaily LifeEnglish

go the whole nine yards

Meaning: To do something completely, holding nothing back.

Example: “For her birthday, he went the whole nine yards: balloons, band and fireworks.”

Origin: The term comes from the World War II era where a fighter pilot's chain of ammunition was twenty-seven feet long (or nine yards). So when he fired all this on the target, he said "I gave it the whole nine yards" -- meaning, he gave it all he had.

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