"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".
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] The phrase was popularised more widely since the late 1990s via its use as the title of the 1997 U.K. film The Full Monty, plus more recent spin-offs with the same title, wherein its usage (in the context of the story) denotes a complete reveal in the sense of stripping "all the way" on a stage, i.e., total nudity.
Hypothesised 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] 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]
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