Episode 238: Soup to Nuts

 

This week Shauna and Dan dive into the phrase "Soup to Nuts". Bonus: The Irish phrase "To take the soup", the Three Stooges, and gloves versus mittens.

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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
Episode 238: Soup to Nuts
Record Date: May 26, 2024
Air Date: June 5, 2024

Intro

Shauna:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase.

I’m Shauna Harrison

Dan:
And I’m Dan Pugh

Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today.

Opening Hook
This week’s episode came to me while I was teaching a class on the West Coast. We were talking about how some people are specialists - doing a few things and doing them very, very well. And one of the people said that she was more of a generalist because her department didn’t have the money to pay for specialists. And she said specifically, “I do everything, from soup to nuts.” And that led me to figure out where in the heck that phrase comes from.  

Meaning

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, soup to nuts means:

Quote
from beginning to end, completely; everything
End Quote



1852
The first time I could find the phrase was in 1852 in a story that was published in a variety of newspapers in England, Scotland, and some time later, Australia. I’ll read from the Manchester Times dated October 6, 1852. It’s from a short piece titled American Dinners:

Quote
I have heard of a boast being made by a veteran in the art that he could “get from soup to nuts in ten minutes”
End Quote
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000502/18521006/008/0003


1890
The Turnover Club By William “Biff” Hall

Quote
The menu was made the subject of grave and protracted discussion by the Committee. The Counsellor could suggest nothing but “soup” and “nuts”. He said that he had often heard the expression “from soup to nuts” employed in referring to well-regulated banquets of all sorts, and he certainly believed they should have both - one at each end of the menu. It did not make much difference as to what went in between, so long as they had “soup” for the prologue and “nuts” for the afterpiece.
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Turnover_Club/4AVAAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22soup+to+nuts%22&pg=PA228&printsec=frontcover

1908
Here’s another food-based example, from With The American Fleet compiled and edited by Robert D. Jones and published in 1908.

Quote
Following the races came the Christmas dinner, which consisted of “everything from soup to nuts,” not omitting the roast turkey and cranberry sauce.
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/With_the_American_Fleet_from_the_Atlanti/9mUoAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22soup+to+nuts%22&pg=PA36&printsec=frontcover


1909
But it wasn’t all food talk, as we see here in this advertisement from the Reform Advocate dated January 30, 1909 and titled From Soup to Nuts.

Quote
You can reach the live ones, the men who are really interested in your class of goods in the following mediums. It is the cream in each case, from soup to nuts.
End Quote

The article then goes on to tell the reader which periodicals certain occupations read, like the mill man and the cutting up trade read the Daily Trade Record. The retailer and the salesman read Men’s Wear and the Chicago Apparel Gazette. And the consumer who really cares about good clothes reads Fairchild’s Magazine.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Reform_Advocate/Do3lAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22soup+to+nuts%22&pg=PA812&printsec=frontcover

And of course, the usage in advertising usually means the reader is expected to be familiar with the idiomatic phrase, so at least this group of people would likely have been familiar with it in 1909.

1915
Here’s another example out of the Geyer’s Stationer dated July 22, 1915 talking about a company picnic of the R.E. Noble Engraving Company.

Quote
The call for dinner was music to the ears of fifty hungry picknickers. The dinner provided everything from soup to nuts, and was thoroughly enjoyed by everybody.
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Geyer_s_Stationer/-Z87AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22soup+to+nuts%22&pg=RA3-PA28&printsec=frontcover


1930
Soup to Nuts is a 1930 movie written by Rube Goldberg (yes, of the complicated machine fame) and serves as the first movie together of Harry Howard, his older brother Shemp Howard, and Larry Fine. Harry would later go by a shortened version of his first name, Moses, to become the Moe, Larry, and Shemp you may know as the Three Stooges. We’ll do a little deeper dive into the Three Stooges in our behind the scenes, available every Friday on our Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod

Here’s the synopsis for Soup to Nuts from Amazon.

Quote
Mr. Schmidt's costume store is bankrupt because he spends his time on Rube Goldberg-style inventions; the creditors send a young manager who falls for Schmidt's niece Louise, but she'll have none of him. Schmidt's friends Ted, Queenie, and some goofy firemen try to help out; things come to a slapstick head when Louise needs rescuing from a fire.
End Quote
https://www.amazon.com/Soup-Nuts-Three-Stooges-Healy/dp/B0007IO77W

1938
Here’s one more for this phrase. This one comes from a small newspaper in Palmer, Alaska. It’s called The Valley Settler and it was published every Friday by the Matanuska Valley Farmers’ Cooperating Association with Mrs. Marie Wilson as Managing Editor and Ina Belle Irwin as typist. This one is dated July 1, 1938. In it, the author is lamenting the changes to the trading post, most notable it moving into a building that was twice its previous size.

Quote
The grocery department has everything from soup to nuts, and the manager rushes around trying to figure a way to make it bigger and better. In fact, our Trading Post is becoming so improved and efficient it isn’t any fun to put in an order any more. Most likely it will be filled without a trip to the warehouse. The “derned” place is becoming just like any other store outside-- we go in, place our order, get it filled, and there isn’t anything to do but go home.
End Quote
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn98060266/1938-07-01/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1756&index=5&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=nuts+soup&proxdistance=5&date2=1963&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=soup+to+nuts&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2

That seems like everything I want out of a grocery order. Place it, get it filled, get it, and go home. But I do not like shopping.


Irish Phrase
Before we move to our modern uses, I want to mention an Irish English phrase that I saw while researching soup to nuts. And that is “to take the soup”. According to this Oxford English Dictionary, this phrase means

Quote
To switch one’s allegiances, especially in a manner perceived as betrayals of a cause or principle
End Quote

It appears this phrase came into being as a way to describe those who switched from Catholicism to Protestantism. Which I thought was a tad specific and meant there must be a story in there. The OED notes:
 
Quote
The phrase derives from the Great Famine when it was alleged that food relief provided by Protestant bible societies was made conditional on the recipient converting to the faith or receiving Protestant teaching.
End Quote
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/soup_n?tab=meaning_and_use&tl=true#1275916230

The Great Famine began in 1845 and lasted several years, caused by successive failures of the potato crop.
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/great-famine_n?tab=meaning_and_use#297925358

Here’s an 1853 usage from Mary Anne Sadlier’s work, New Lights

Quote
‘She gets soup from the Bible-readers—she's not to be trusted, Father O'Driscoll.’ ‘Well!’ said the priest calmly... ‘Is it true, Katty, that you take “the soup”?’
End Quote

And another one, this from 1978 being used in the same way in James Carroll’s work Mortal Friends:

Quote
He's a Protestant, right? With a name like that? Somebody in his family took the soup, sure as hell.
End Quote

I thought this was really cool usage and just wanted to share this phrase as I’d never heard it before and it has such an interesting back story.

“Take the soup” feels very much like the origins of “pie in the sky”, where workers felt the Salvation Army was more interested in saving their soul than helping them in the here and now. We talked about that phrase in episode 230 so if you are interested you can go check it out.

With that, let’s move to our uses in modern media, but first we need to say thank you to our sponsors.

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Modern Uses

1977
I want to start our modern uses with a series of short clips. Here’s the synopsis on their Youtube page.

Quote
Originally published in 1977, Soup to Nuts was a series of four filmstrips for high school students that illustrated concepts basic to an understanding of representative government. The videos were produced as part of the Authority series (now the Foundations of Democracy series) for the Law in a Free Society curriculum published by the Center for Civic Education.
End Quote

It’s kind of a school house rock vibe but told through a series of still photos. I get the impression it might have originally been a slide projector style of presentation with voiceover on cassette. I watched all 4 chapters in the series. It follows a series of hyperbolic situations to showcase how different kinds of government can work. From the Panacea Party of Political Prestidigitation (who want to basically close down the government and let people do whatever they want) to Dorothy the Benevolent Despot (who slowly becomes increasingly power hungry) it works through pros and cons of government styles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bQsda7VJl0&list=PL4W3bC8eWAuW5xunkl5Db2giKf4NPT8sl&index=3

2000
Soup to Nutz (with a Z at the end of Nuts instead of an S), was a daily comic strip by Rick Stromoski. It ran from 2000 to 2018 and was syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association.

In 2012, Stromoski released his first collection as a book called “The First Course”. Here’s the synopsis of the book that also gives a good overview of the comic strip itself.

Quote
The Nutz family will never be confused with the Waltons, the Partridges, or the Bradys. But you might confuse them with another family: your own. Soup To Nutz: The First Course is the first collection of comic strips featuring the off-kilter Nutz family, where the battle for the last chicken leg rivals the Battle of Bull Run and sibling “rivalry” is putting it mildly. The battling brood includes brothers Roy-boy and Andrews, their sister and middle child Babs, parents Roy and Pat, and their faithful dog Rosco. These six Nutz make up a family that is every bit as funny and screwball as their name implies. Roy-boy teases his younger brother by telling him that he became part of the family when they found him in the woods and adopted him. But his sister is quick to set the record straight: “Don’t be silly, Andrew, you weren’t adopted . . . Dad made you out of wood and a cricket turned you into a real boy.” The irreverent humor of Nutz flows from the pencil of creator Rick Stromoski, whose research includes growing up the seventh member of a family of 12 children. That experience no doubt helped shape the humor behind what is one of the funniest up-and-coming strips on the funny pages today.
End Quote
https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/soup-to-nutz/

2010
Soup to Nuts is a song in the 2010 musical film Standing Ovation, about 5 best friends who follow their music-video, million-dollar-prize winning dreams to New York. It is sung by the so-called villains in a scene about etiquette while eating at a diner. Here are some of the lyrics:

Quote
Soup to nuts, mind your P's and Q's
Sit up straight or you get no food
Eat your bread like the uppercrust do
With a knife and a fork no crumbs on you
End Quote
https://genius.com/Mr-wiggs-soup-to-nuts-lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MFNN1YgiY8

2016
Cooking Soup to Nuts is a 2016 cookbook by Chef Becky Foulk. Here is her statement on the book:

Quote
Writing this book has been a dream come true. Soup to me is a perfect meal. It can fit into any diet healthy or indulgent and is great any day of the year. I find cooking a pot of soup a great way to unwind after a stressful week. Unlike baking, soup is easy to adjust the recipes to what's in your refrigerator or add a signature touch. You will find recipes in this book for every season, simple meals to elegant dinners, classic recipes to signature creations. The non-soup recipes are simply suggestions, but can be mixed and matched to create your perfect meal.
End Quote
https://bookstore.dorrancepublishing.com/products/cooking-soup-to-nuts

It’s an interesting title given it’s a cookbook focused mostly on soup. From the name I would have thought it would be everything from appetizers to desserts. But what do I know?

2022
From Soup to Nuts is an autobiography, which means the author of the book is also the subject of the book, written by Nigel Henson. It was released in 2022. Here is the synopsis from the publisher:

Quote
Nigel Henson was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1946, and educated at Plumtree School. He was awarded the Sword of Honour at the School of Infantry and was commissioned into the Rhodesian Light Infantry, serving as a troop commander in the Bush War of the 1970s. He moved to the Middle East to join the Sultan of Oman’s Armed Forces as a company commander in Dhofar in 1968/9 at the age of 21, before returning to the RLI as a training officer, rising to staff officer in army headquarters. In May 1977, Major Nigel Henson took command of the Support Commando engaged in Fire-Force operations, most of which he commanded from the air and involved parachuting into Mozambique and Zambia. In early 1980, Henson, along with other officers and soldiers, was decorated at Army Headquarters Salisbury after the Commonwealth Monitoring Force had arrived. Now retired, Nigel lives in Gauteng. He relishes his fly-fishing, his love of fine whiskeys, and the occasional poor game of golf.
End Quote
https://www.amazon.com/Soup-Nuts-Nigel-Henson/dp/1776405811



Wrap Up
I appreciate that this phrase seems like it might come from food and that does appear to be the case. I also like the implication that nuts were a common meal finisher, which is something I’ve never really experienced. I never really had anything except pecans growing up - probably due to the cost. Pecan trees were all over and I ate so many of them in my first 20 years that I generally avoid them now. But I still appreciate the phrase soup to nuts. Probably because it just isn’t one I use in my own life. And I love learning the history behind phrases I don’t use just as much as learning the history of the one’s I do.


Dan:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included,
reach out to us on Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod or comment on our website bunnytrailspod.com

Shauna:
It’s poll time!

Recently we asked our Patrons, gloves or mittens?

The results were clear with 100% saying “gloves”.
 
Mary said,

Quote
I feel completely helpless in mittens and no one wants me to be clumsier than I already am. I wear regular gloves when driving or working at the pantry, but I mostly wear fingerless gloves so I can continue typing or playing music. They are amazingly warm.
End Quote

Dan:
Jan said:

Quote
Gloves. I just never had a lot of mitten exposure growing up so I have the glove preference.
End Quote

I prefer the dexterity of gloves over mittens. I have gloves in my coat at all times and a pair in my winter bag. I'm not sure when I would want mittens, but maybe some of our listeners can enlighten me when mittens would be better than gloves. bunnytrailspod@gmail.com

Shauna:

I am an eternally cold individual so this topic is my jam! I wear all of the  gloves. Mittens have less surface area and your entire hand and all of your fingers get to share warmth… so if it’s cold enough, you’ll be better off with mittens. But unless you’re skiing or doing something else that doesn’t require any dexterity of the fingers, that’s not really going to work. So I prefer gloves.

As a reminder, our silly polls mean absolutely nothing and are not scientifically valid. And patrons of all levels, including our free tiers, can take part. Head over to patreon.com/bunnytrailspod to take this week’s poll!

Outro

Shauna:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember,

Together:
Words belong to their users.