Meaning of Soup to Nuts

Posted by Sauerkraut on November 08, 2000

In Reply to: Meaning of Soup to Nuts posted by Frankie on November 07, 2000

: : I don't know why this isn't in the list yet, but the origin of the phrase is from formal dinners that started with a soup course and ended with the last course being a plate of mixed nuts.

: They're the courses in a (Victorian?) formal banquet. Soup is the first course, and the nuts are served with the brandy and cigars as the gentlemen retire to the billiards room....

: ---from "archive 6" posted 08-01-00 by bob.

Our good old friends the Romans said it in Latin
- "ab ova ad malum" (I think the spelling is correct) which means from eggs to apples - much the same idea of a complete dinner from appetizers to desserts.