Question of the Day #466

"I did plenty of that second guessing, and I still do at times, but honestly what it comes down is that we can beat ourselves up 9 ways to Sunday but the outcome is still the same."
From the 3rd from last paragraph of this article at The Good Men Project.

上記の文で、9 (nine) ways to Sundayの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "9 (nine) ways to Sunday" mean?

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Write your answer in the Comments.

明日、ここに答えを書きます。
I will add the answer and other remarks here tomorrow.

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解答

意味：
Usingenglish.comのこのスレッドによると、"nine ways to Sunday"は、"six/seven/nine days to/from Sunday"の変形です。 英辞郎によるとsix ways to Sundayの意味は、

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Answer

According to this thread at usingenglish.com, this is a variation of "six/seven/nine days to/from Sunday." And according to the Free Dictionary "six days to Sunday" means:

Thoroughly or completely; in every possible way; from every conceivable angle.

Examples

• Everyone had their money on the reigning champion, but he was beaten six ways to Sunday by the newcomer.
• We researched the case six ways to Sunday, but there didn't seem to be any way that we could win with the evidence at hand.
• I played tennis with Tom and beat him seven ways from Sunday.
• Fortunately, we are well rested and relaxed and unlikely to make mistakes, which is why we will go in teeny-tiny steps, verifying every- thing six ways from Sunday.
• This, I strongly came to believe, outranks other definitions of success nine ways to Sunday.

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