Entry from OED Online
| full monty, n.
(and a.) |
DRAFT ENTRY June 2001 |
| slang (orig. and chiefly
Brit.).
Forms: 19- Full
Monty, full Monty, full monty. [< FULL
a. + monty (origin unknown). Many theories are proposed as to the
origin of this phrase, but none of them is supported by reliable historical
evidence. Perh. the most plausible is that it is from a colloquial shortening of
the name of Montague Maurice Burton (1885-1952), men's tailor, and
referred originally to the purchase of a complete three-piece suit. Also popular
but unsubstantiated is the belief that the phrase is somehow derived from
Monty, the nickname of Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery (1887-1976).
However, the sheer variety of often vague, purely anecdotal, and mutually
contradictory explanations for the connection—ranging from his wartime briefing style to his breakfasting habits—renders this less credible. Other suggestions, including
references to MONTY
n. and MONTE
n.1, are still more
speculative.]
1.
Chiefly with the. Everything which is necessary, appropriate, or
possible; ‘the works’. 1985
K. HOWARTH Sounds Gradely
(North West Sound Archive), Full-monty, everything
included..a thorough display— messing about. 1986
J.
MILLER Street Talk 42 Full
monty, everything included. To avoid the awkwardness of stumbling through an
unfamiliar menu, someone might tell the waiter: ‘We'll have the full monty’. 1994
Guitarist Sept. 169/1 (advt.) When you buy your new Vester bass from us, you can rest assured
that it receives the full monty. 1995
Guardian 13 Jan.
I. 24/5 When conducting a funeral he wears the full monty; frock coat,
top hat and a Victorian cane with metal tip. 2001
Leicester Mercury (Electronic ed.) 13 Jan., What if you're so overworked that when you get back from the
office, nothing less than The Full Monty will do when it comes to domestic help?
2.
spec. Freq. in form Full Monty. Chiefly with the. Total
nudity (esp. for public display); a striptease. Freq. (in later use) in to do the Full Monty: to strip. Also as adj.:
totally naked. The use was
popularized by Peter Cattaneo's 1997 film The Full Monty, about a group
of men who become strippers after being made redundant.
1997
S. BEAUFOY Full
Monty (film script) 86 Horse: No one said
owt about going the full monty to me... Gaz: We've got to give 'em
something your average ten-bob stripper don't. 1997
Sunday Mirror (Electronic ed.) 12 Jan., Disappointingly, Steve doesn't get his kit off in Ivanhoe. ‘I'm
bare-chested a couple of times, but not the full Monty,’ he says. 1999
Evening Express (Aberdeen)
(Electronic ed.) 24 May, A hunky TV highlander joined North-east
businessmen in a money-spinning Full Monty. 2001
Evening Chron. (Newcastle)
(Electronic ed.) 15 Jan. (headline), Bingo boys do the
Full Monty—Cheeky callers in sponsored strip for charity
calendar.
|