The full monty

The full monty (or the full Monty) is a British slang phrase of uncertain origin. It means "everything which is necessary, appropriate or possible; 'the works'."[1] Similar North American phrases include "the whole kit and caboodle",[2] "the whole nine yards",[3] "the whole ball of wax", "the whole enchilada", "the whole shebang", or "[going] the whole hog".

This article is about the phrase. For the 1997 film, see The Full Monty. For other uses, see The Full Monty (disambiguation).
A British soldier of the Second World War selects a jacket for his "demob suit". These suits are one of the possible origins of the phrase.
"The Full Monty" cafe in Middleton, Greater Manchester in May 2008, not long before it closed

The phrase was first identified in print by lexicographers of the Oxford English Dictionary in the 1980s. Anecdotal evidence exists for earlier usage;[2] the phrase was also used as the name for some fish and chip shops in Manchester during the same period.[3][4]

Hypothesized origins of the phrase include:

  • Field Marshal Montgomery's preference for a large breakfast, even while on campaign.[2][3][5]
  • A full three-piece suit with waistcoat and a spare pair of trousers from the Leeds-based British tailoring company Montague Burton.[2][3] When British forces were demobilised after the Second World War, they were issued with a "demob suit". The contract for supplying these suits was partly fulfilled by Montague Burton.[5]
  • Gamblers' jargon, meaning the entire kitty or pot, deriving from the card game called monte.[5]

References
  1. "full monty, n. (and adj.)". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2001.
  2. Dent, Susie (2009). What Made The Crocodile Cry?: 101 questions about the English language. Oxford University Press. pp. 151–152. ISBN 9780191650604.
  3. Gooden, Philip; Lewis, Peter (2013). Idiomantics: The Weird and Wonderful World of Popular Phrases. A&C Black. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9781408157404.
  4. Games, Alex (2010). Balderdash & Piffle: One Sandwich Short of a Dog's Dinner. Random House. pp. 213–214. ISBN 9781446415085.
  5. Quinion, Michael. "World Wide Words: The Full Monty". worldwidewords.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015.

Further reading


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