where does the term nine line come from
The whole nine yards
The Oxford English Dictionary finds the earliest published non-idiomatic use in an 1855 Indiana newspaper article . The earliest known idiomatic use of the phrase is from 1907 in Southern Indiana . The phrase is related to the expression the whole six yards , used around the same time in Kentucky and South Carolina . Both phrases are variations on the whole ball of wax , first recorded in the 1880s . They are part of a family of expressions in which an odd - sounding item , such as enchilada , shooting match , shebang or hog , is substituted for ball of wax . The choice of the number nine may be related to the expression `` To the nines '' ( to perfection ) .
The Oxford English Dictionary finds the earliest published non-idiomatic use in an 1855 Indiana newspaper article . The earliest known idiomatic use of the phrase is from 1907 in Southern Indiana . The phrase is related to the expression the whole six yards , used around the same time in Kentucky and South Carolina . Both phrases are variations on the whole ball of wax , first recorded in the 1880s . They are part of a family of expressions in which an odd - sounding item , such as enchilada , shooting match , shebang or hog , is substituted for ball of wax . The choice of the number nine may be related to the expression `` To the nines '' ( to perfection ) .