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I just heard this on public radio's "Marketplace" and I have decided I'm done with it.
It's the metaphorical range, from soup to nuts. In this case it was dairy products, something like "from milk to cheese to butter to yogurt."
Hack journalists are now on notice. If your range of values isn't inherently apparent from the end points, then I'm circling it with my red pencil. And don't think I won't use a red pencil on my computer display.
Well, I have to say that the expression "soup to nuts" never made much sense to me either. But I've never used a red pencil on my monitor. 🙂
IMHO, you are being a bit too literal about these types of metaphors. It's not like a number line in mathematics, with rigorously defined end-points and a continuum in between. It's a metaphor, it's been in common use for ages, and it's not likely to go away.
We did a segment on "soup to nuts" recently.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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