"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 1970s 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:
"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 1970s 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: