Chrysti The Wordsmith: The Whole - 2

Greetings word lovers. Today on Christie the wordsmith will examine the expression the whole enchilada. One member of a sizable family of clichés such as the whole nine yards and the whole ball of wax. That means everything the entire package the works as far as anyone can tell the whole enchilada showed up on the West Coast in the middle of the last century. The Oxford English Dictionary cites the Los Angeles Times of March 6th 1960 where we read about a place quote complete with swimming hiking tennis the whole enchilada. An online database search reveals that the expression has remained current throughout the last four decades. In 1976 after Jimmy Carter won the presidency Ronald Reagan said of the Democrats they've got the whole enchilada now. A restaurant critic in the January 23rd 2003 edition of The Washington Post wrote as far as variety the Mexico restaurant has the whole enchilada. We can find illustrative

examples of the expression in countless media sources though it seems to have been coined in Southern California in the mid 20th century. Its original meaning is unclear. Some sources say the illusion relies on the many possible ingredients of an enchilada meat cheese potatoes seafood chillies eggs and a variety of spices. The whole enchilada. I'm Christie the wordsmith. Good day for divorce. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.