(from) soup to nuts

(from) soup to nuts

From the very beginning to the very end. Refers to a once-traditional full course meal, beginning with soup and ending with a dessert of nuts. OK, let's go over the plan again, from soup to nuts. Soup to nuts, this has to be the most interesting and engaging book I've ever read. This introductory philosophy course will examine the field from soup to nuts, beginning with the Greeks and finishing with the work of modern philosophers.

See also: nuts, soup, to

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

from soup to nuts

Also, from A to Z or start to finish or stem to stern . From beginning to end, throughout, as in We went through the whole agenda, from soup to nuts, or She had to learn a whole new system from A to Z, or It rained from start to finish, or We did over the whole house from stem to stern. The first expression, with its analogy to the first and last courses of a meal, appeared in slightly different forms (such as from potage to cheese) from the 1500s on; the precise wording here dates only from the mid-1900s. The second expression alludes to the first and last letters of the Roman alphabet; see also alpha and omega. The third comes from racing and alludes to the entire course of the race; it dates from the mid-1800s. The last variant is nautical, alluding to the front or stem, and rear or stern, of a vessel.

See also: nuts, soup, to

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

from soup to nuts

from beginning to end; completely. North American informal

Soup is likely to feature as the first course of a formal meal, while a selection of nuts may be offered as the final one.

See also: nuts, soup, to

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

from ˌsoup to ˈnuts

(American English, informal) from beginning to end: She told me the whole story from soup to nuts.

This refers to a long meal that often begins with soup and ends with nuts.

See also: nuts, soup, to

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

from soup to nuts

From the beginning to the end; the whole thing. The analogy to a complete meal of numerous courses dates back many years. John Heywood’s proverb collection of 1546 has it “from potage to cheese,” and John Clarke’s 1639 collection, “from th’egges to th’apples.” The precise locution of soup to nuts appears to be American and dates only from the early twentieth century. A very similar cliché, from start to finish, comes from sports, particularly rowing races. The earliest example in print, according to the OED, dates from a sports publication of 1868. This cliché is more common in Britain, where finish is used as a noun more often than it is in America. See also alpha and omega; from the word go.

See also: nuts, soup, to

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer