Date:  Mon, 3 Nov 1997 23:47:09 -0500
From:  Jesse T Sheidlower <jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM>
Subject: Re: The Full Monty

>     Apparently, the writer of the film (or one of the head honchos),
> was at a roadside cafe one morning in England. He ordered a "cooked
> breakfast", with everything that comes along with an English cooked
> breakfast. The waitress asked him, "oh, the Full Monty?"
>     This could be one of those folk origins, of course. I'll ask
> around and see if there is an actual, recorded interview with the writer
> about the title.

I thought someone had posted this before, but the phrase _the full
monty_ meaning 'everything possible; the works; the whole nine yards'
(and only meaning 'complete nudity' contextually in the film) is a
British slang expression that's found back to (IIRC) 1986 in print.
If this anecdote is true it could only suggest where the writer
may have been reminded (or perhaps first heard of) the expression;
it doesn't originate from there.

Jesse Sheidlower
<jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com>