Date:  Thu, 13 Nov 1997 22:28:01 -0600
From:  "Donald M. Lance" <engdl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU>
Subject: The full Monty

Leslie Dunkling asked me to post this information for the benefit of
adslers who hae been looking for explanations of 'the full monty'.

>I have had to stop lurking on the ADS list - at least temporarily - owing
>to pressure of other interests, but before I left the list there was some
>interest in the origin of the phrase "the full Monty." This was something I
>had never heard until the film appeared, nor was the phrase familiar to any
>of my linguistically-interested friends. I even had an e-mail from a
>professor of English asking me whether I knew anything about it.
>
>A suggestion has now been made which I think justifies serious
>consideration. In Britain there is a long-established chain of tailors
>called Burtons. The shops were formerly known as Montague Burton's,
>presumably for the man who founded them. The suggestion is that "the full
>Monty" originally referred to a complete man's outfit bought from Montague
>Burton's, a suit with waistcoat - the whole caboodle, in other words.
>(There's another phrase to conjure with!)
>
>In favour of this idea is the fact that at one time there was a branch of
>Montague Burton's in nearly every high street, including the area of
>England where the film was set. But this phrase has never been in general
>use throughout the country. Whatever its origin, it was never more than a
>local piece of slang.
>
>Do pass on the gist of this to ADS members if you think they will be
>interested.