The recent discovery of several instances of “the whole six yards” in newspapers from the 1910s — four decades before the earliest known references to “the whole nine yards” — opens a new window onto “the most prominent etymological riddle of our time,” said Fred Shapiro, a librarian at Yale Law School who announced the findings in next month’s issue of The Yale Alumni Magazine.

OK… I know it’s just the way the phrase caught my funny bone this morning… But, reporting announcements that won’t happen until “next month”, seems like pushing the whole Einstein relativity thing… Doesn’t it?

And before anyone takes me to task… Yes, I know about magazine publishing calendars. I have had next months issue of most of my magazine subscriptions for a week or so… I even saw a copy of the March issue of Rod & Custom some where. Now that’s really pushing the calendar.

via ‘The Whole Nine Yards’ – Seeking a Phrase’s Origin – NYTimes.com.