Sometimes I come across some phrase which I am not sure about and just assume the meaning - just like the movie “The whole nine yards” starring Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis a few years back. At first I thought it has something to do with baseball hehe. Don’t ask me why.

Now I know it means something like finish the whole thing which is the same as the Malay proverbs “alang-alang menyeluk pekasam, biarlah sampai ke pangkal lengan”.

Anyway, this site tells you the meaning and origin of phrases but most of them are of UK origins.

Going through some of the list, I came across “whiter shade of pale”, which is the title of a song released in 1967 by Procol Harum but covered by Annie Lennox in the 80’s.

Nobody knows the exact meaning of the title, yes even the song-writer himself. Probably high on cracked while composing it. Anyway it’s a nice song, haven’t heard the original but I like the version by Lennox.

Links :
Phrase Finder
Site to find the meaning of “whiter shade of pale”