words of the week: the full monty

It was the film of the name that brought the expression to the country at large - and if you haven't seen the film, at least you must have heard of it and have a vague idea of what it's about. The expression, however, pre-dates the film, but apart from that, there is a general air of mystery about its roots.

The Oxford Dictionary of New Words gives no clue to the origins of the full monty. Instead it gives a 1990 quotation from a Sunday newspaper which suggests that we may have Ben Elton to thank for the pre-film popularity of the phrase, although the said popularity then was nothing like the height to which it soared after the release of the film.

When there are doubts about the origins of a person, the gossips take over. So it is in the case of linguistic terms. When no respectable, hard-fast derivation can be produced, people begin to speculate with a vengeance.

In many ways etymology is an inexact science. This may be inevitable, partly because of the nature of how language comes about, and partly because of the fact that, until recently, the recording of new words was an informal, haphazard procedure. The whole panoply of computerisation has done much to redress the latter problem but it has not solved this entirely. Perhaps this is just as well. Often speculative etymologies are much more fun. Too often people are put off acquiring an interest in word origins because so many words seem to have come from Old English, Latin, or other languages which are not known to the average person. Words which have a more imaginative past, on the other hand, can kindle a lifetime absorption.

At the moment, dictionary departments are all at sea when it comes to establishing a linguistic past for the full monty. Registered written sources seem to start around 1990, but many people claim they heard it, and even used it, long before this. Some 50-somethings and even older somethings even claim to have known it from childhood. If this is the case, and not false memory syndrome, it suggests the interest in the film simply repopularised or made more widespread the phrase that had already been in circulation but had fallen into disuse as some words and phrases do from time to time. Alternatively, it could be one of those expressions that is so instantly user-friendly it sounds familiar to ears and eyes that in fact have never encountered it before.

Whatever the explanation, the fact is that we are awash with suggested derivations for the full monty. People of a certain age tend to associate the phrase with the Monty who was such a prominent figure during World War Two, Field Marshall Lord Montgomery.

Tony Thorne in Bloomsbury's Dictionary of Contemporary Slang cites that one of the suggested origins of the full monty as being a reference to the ''quality of the wartime briefings'' given by Montgomery in North Africa. I have also heard the suggestion that the full monty was indeed associated with Montgomery, but that it was a reference to the comprehensive work of the minesweepers, known as Monty's Own, which were used to clear the fairway along the North African coast for the 8th Army.

All this may sound unnecessarily gung-ho or jingoistic to those with no memory of the war. They might prefer a more humorous connection between Montgomery and the full monty, although I should warn you in advance it sounds rather unlikely. Montgomery is said to have been a man who appreciated what is known in the hotel trade as a full English breakfast, although with wartime rationing he must have been singularly lucky to be able to tuck into such a meal. Thus this first feast of the day is said to have been known as the full monty in his honour.

Other suggestions include one that relates the full monty to the French tout le monde, (everyone) and another which indicates it was a nickname given to people who lived in the Potteries area of England. However, the suggestion which seems to be most popular at the moment associates the full monty with gambling. Even here there is some dispute.

Thorne, in the Dictionary of Contemporary Slang explains ''it is a piece of gambler's jargon meaning the entire kitty or necessary 'pot' to be bet'', this being derived from Monte, Spanish through Italian for bank or mountain. Others relate it to a Spanish-derived American card game known as monte, the full monte being used to differentiate the game from a three-card version, known, not surprisingly, as three-card monte.

The film of the name, of course, has added another dimension to the full monty. Before it was released, the phrase was synonymous with the ''the works'', all that is necessary or desired, but now it has also been associated with stripping. Whatever its history, the full monty has become full frontal.

from breakfasts to baddies

how the full monty has been used in The Herald

Barry White's orchestra creates seductive boudoir music with lots of strings attached. Violins, cellos, the full monty,

all sawing away with impossible magnificence . . . fair melted my choc ice it did (March 1992)

Michael Caton-Jones is ensconced at a

corner table . . . tucking in to the full monty - bacon, sausage, eggs, and black pudding.

Angina on a plate (August 1993)

Girls never thought of sex as a wonderful thing you would embark on as a couple. It was sex, the full monty (April 94)

Disney, the old wizard . . . his baddies had it all, they were crafty, merciless, spiteful - the full monty of meanness (February 1994)

For #35 you can buy The Complete

Maly season ticket. Which will surely

join The Full Monty, The Full Bhoona,

and The Whole Enchilada in Glasgow's lexicography of phrases expressing bounteousness (April 1994)