Whole 9 Yards: Idioms, Etymology, & Origins

Whole 9 Yards is a weekly podcast that will simultaneously educate, astonish, and amuse. Listen while we share equivocal research about the origin of words, phrases, and idioms we use every day. From the team at Big Science Pods, we bring you the whole 9 yards, the entire kit and caboodle, the whole shebang of this quick, entertaining look at our language and the history therein. Learn why we call New York "The Big Apple," what "red-handed" REALLY means and why sometimes people are "happy as a clam." So, let's cut to the chase, if you jump on the bandwagon now, the first 100 subscribers will be entered to win a Big Science Snuggie. Have a question about an idiom? Wanna drop us a line because you think we’re funny... or, not? Think we’re mistaken about any information we’ve shared? Hit us up at heyyou@whole9yards.org. We’re waiting with bated breath!

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Whole 9 Yards: Idioms, Etymology, & Origins

W9Y Has An Uncle Named Bob

August 14, 2026 • Big Science Pods • Season 5 • Episode 330

0:00 | 36:38

Episode 330: Jay & Ray, by and large, make sense out of idioms.

bob's your uncle
by & large
heavens to Betsy
call a spade a spade

Link to W.E.B. Dubois's powerful essay 'Returning Soldiers' written to the African-American soldiers returning from WWI.

Snagglepuss (not Marvin Martian)

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some of the W9Y sources include phrase finder uk, word wizard forums, etymology online, the OED, American Dictionary of Idioms, Wiki, newspapers.com, stackexchange, worldwidewords.