Comments on: This theory is no longer considered viable, since the phrase predates World War I https://www.isegoria.net/2021/12/this-theory-is-no-longer-considered-viable-since-the-phrase-predates-world-war-i/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:25:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Bruce Purcell https://www.isegoria.net/2021/12/this-theory-is-no-longer-considered-viable-since-the-phrase-predates-world-war-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3482336 Bruce Purcell Fri, 24 Dec 2021 06:05:21 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=48513#comment-3482336 Gavin, yes, and the phrase probably got a boost from pilots who read CS Forester describing a sailor flogged through the fleet and then checked his machine gun belt.

]]> By: Gavin Longmuir https://www.isegoria.net/2021/12/this-theory-is-no-longer-considered-viable-since-the-phrase-predates-world-war-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3481889 Gavin Longmuir Wed, 22 Dec 2021 23:03:42 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=48513#comment-3481889 “This theory is no longer considered viable, since the phrase predates World War I.”

That assumes (without evidence) that a phrase can only be assembled once. There is no reason why the WWII pilot who stated he shot the “whole nine yards” of his ammunition belt in a single burst had to be aware of any earlier use of that phrase.

The history of science is full of separate discoveries of the same thing (eg calculus by Newton & Leibnitz). Why should there not be separate creations of the same (or similar) phrase?

]]>