The Last Word
dressed up to then eyne ... dressed up to the neyne...
dressed up to the nines. It is certainly the case that
eyne was the early plural of eye. It was cognate with
the Germanic plural: in German, the word for eye is
Auge , plural Augen.
So it seems reasonable to assume that to the nine(s)
comes from the Old English plural for eyes. We have
a similar construction up to my eyes in debt (etc) and
the parallel construction thrilled to the back teeth. As
a metaphor of completeness, reference to something
near the top of the head makes perfect sense. The
fact that the expression to the nine (singular) exists
lends force to the idea that it is a corruption of to
then eyne.
Incidentally, the expression dressed to the nines
naturally calls to mind the similar expression mutton
dressed as lamb. As a child I found this puzzling: the
idea of clothing on sheep did not seem
sensible.
This
sense
of
dress
dates
back to 1440. OED2 defines it this way:
‘To array, attire, or ‘rig out’, with suitable clothing
or raiment; to adorn or deck with apparel; in later
use often simply, to clothe’. The ‘later use’ of simply
putting on clothes, which is now the dominant sense,
only dates to the mid-eighteenth century. Until then,
it had an overtone of proper dress or finery.
This is because dress has a more fundamental sense
‘To make straight or right; to bring into proper order;
to array, make ready, prepare, tend.’ In the military,
the troops dress by the right (etc), that is, they align
themselves in straight rows when on parade. This
use dates back to the early 18th century. The Nines
undoubtedly perfected the art of dressing in this
sense also.
The verbal noun dressing has the same connotation
of making right or making ready. Dressing a thing
made it ready; conversely, a dressing down is a
chastisement calculated to make a person’s later
behaviour proper.
Dressing a joint of meat simply means trimming it
and making it ready for the oven. A dresser is ‘A
sideboard or table in a kitchen on which food is or was
dressed;...’ (OED2). Mutton dressed as lamb is meat
from an old sheep trimmed so as to appear like lamb.
Since the expression is often (perhaps exclusively
these days) used in criticism of a woman’s clothing
sense, the connection with attire is reinforced, and
the sense of correctness recedes to the shadows.
POETRY
By Trevor Bailey
A public service
Judge, taste these little cheesy things I whipped them up myself;
And let me top you up with drinks For you they are top shelf.
How lovely looks dear Mrs Judge Your kids are handsome too;
Now do you like my brand of fudge?
I’ve plenty more for you.
Your latest judgment’s very wise,
If not so well received;
You ruled against my glib advice,
But gosh! I am relieved.
You blackened my best client’s name,
Thus helped to prove this rule:
Despite the fact I sank his claim,
My rise will still be cool,
Yes, give my side a dressing down!
For that’s OK with me;
I’m measured for a dressing gown
to do the same with glee
Bar News | Autumn 2013 | 95