Reblogged from Bumba’s: EVERYDAY ANOTHER STORY

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Happy September. Happy 9th month of the year. However, in respect to the number nine I must admit that I there are a number things I just can’t understand. For instance, I just cannot understand the expression “the whole nine yards”. I can get a handle on the whole enchilada (yummy), even the whole kit and kiboodle (it’s a railroad term), but where does the expression the Whole Nine Yards come from? It’s etymology is murky. No one knows exactly where it came from. Likewise, the expression Dressed to the Nines is a puzzle to the etymologists. Its origin, its parentage is unknown. Ditto Cloud Nine. So, what’s up with this nine? Bumba’s hypothesis is that the numeral 9, being the last one, the final word, simply indicates a certain high level of excellence. 9 is premium grade. No better illustrated than by our beloved Marina Kanavaki who has gone the whole nine yards on this one. Thanks, Thanks to Marina!!!

P.S. The Bumbastories staff insists on mentioning that the great and noble American game of baseball is played in 9 innings, by a team of nine. Ted Williams, Minnie Minosa, and Roger Maris wore the number 9 proudly. Thanks again to Marina.

Thank YOU, Steve, for inviting me to work with you on this… my favorite number!

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Steve (A.K.A. Bumba), a very talented writer & musician and my good friend here at the blogosphere, is responsible for a series of paintings I did for the months, which ended up in a calendar. His invitation to work with him on Nine was what motivated me afterwards to create artwork for each month/number.

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For those who don’t know already, he has been doing a series of posts on numbers: “The Numbers Game Is Here: Mathematics for Dummies”  with this subtitle: “The beauty of math, of numbers and other beautiful patterns. Of Geometry and Science. Watch out it’s heavy.”

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