In ancient Rome, kids played games with nuts — specifically walnuts. In a Latin poem from that era, “Nux,” a walnut tree describes some of those games. Nux is Latin for “nut,” the source also of nucleus, or “kernel of a nut” and eventually the core of other things. The plural nuces appears in the Latin phrase nuces relinquere, literally “to give up nuts,” which, used in a metaphorical sense, means “to leave childhood” — in other words, to put away one’s toys. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Nuts, Nucleus, and Putting Away One’s Toys”
In 2000 years before Call of Duty and Fortnite, little kids in ancient Rome were playing games with nuts, and specifically walnuts. There’s a Latin poem from that era in which a walnut tree describes some of those games, which involved tossing nuts or rolling them, kind of like pitching pennies or an ancient version of cornhole. The poem is called Nux, N-U-X, which in Latin means nut. And the diminutive of this word is nucula, little nut. And that’s the source, as you know, Grant, of nucleus, meaning the kernel of a nut and eventually the core of other things.
And the plural of Latin nux is nusus, which gave us the lovely Latin phrase, which in its most literal sense means to give up nuts. But really what it means in Latin is to pass out of childhood, to put away your toys, put away childish things and get on with the serious business of life. Nusis relinquere, relinquish your toys. That’s how important nuts were to the playtime of a child back then.
Yeah, yeah. I just thought that was a lovely phrase. Instead of marbles or jacks, they had nuts.
Yeah, makes sense. Right? Yeah, sure. It makes a lot of sense. I wonder if they painted them or carved them. You know, I can imagine walnut shelves carved to look like animals or soldiers or that sort of thing. I don’t, I don’t know. But, but certain, certainly these tossing games or, or games almost like marbles, you know?
Yeah, I can imagine that. I just thought that was a beautiful way to say moving into adulthood, you know, leaving behind those little toys.
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