Whole nine yards

The origins of this phrase are uncertain but seem to trace back to a military reference.


1) It could go back to the Vietnam era referring to the nine Montagnard tribes or “Yards”

2) Or it may refer to a drill where soldiers were trained to cover nine yards in three seconds before diving to the ground to avoid sniper fire

Different ball of wax

Have you ever wondered what this means or where it came from? The origins of this phrase can be traced back linguistically to the word "bailiwicks" which means "sphere of specialized knowledge." Bailiwicks evolved into our present day "ball o' wax." So a "different ball of wax" means it is a different sphere of specialized knowledge.