The Phrase Finder website is an excellent source to discover how a particular phrase started.
The phrases ''start from scratch'' and ''dressed to the nines'' recently caught my interest.
If one starts from scratch, one starts from the beginning. Its storied history and its variations are explained here.
Now, ''dressed to the nines'' is more complicated since a ''search for the link between 'nines' and dress sense has unearthed no convincing candidates,'' according to the site.
Evidently, the number nine is significant as a superlative in classical mythology.
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