[Ads-l] "Making the nut" explained

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here is one possible metaphorical analysis. A nut is a seed. It is a
compact object that can be planted, and if it is cared for properly it
will grow into a tree or bush which is much larger than the seed. Of
course, the nut might fail to yield a tree, or the tree might be
small.

So, the "nut" is a small initial payment one makes in the hope that
one will obtain a large return. The term "seed" in "seed money" would
be analogous, but the earliest OED cite for "seed money" is dated
1966. The date for "seed money" can be pushed back to 1954, but that
is still much later than "nut" in the sense under examination.

Date: July 1954
Periodical: Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Volume 8, Number 7
Quote Page 34
Database: Google Books Full View

https://books.google.com/books?id=-QYEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22seed+money%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
The first $50,000 came easy. The Mellon Trust gave it as "seed money"
to get things started.
[End excerpt]

In the 1914 citation the "nut" is the investment that con men make to
run a scam. If the scam is executed properly it will return more money
than the nut payment. This interpretation also matches the 1936 cite.
A relatively small initial payment to mount a theatrical production
will produce windfall profits. (Of course, the seed/nut may never
sprout.)

Bonus: Here is a cite from 1930 (probably) for "nut money" (compare
"seed money").

Year: 1930
Title: American Bankruptcy Reports: Reporting the Decisions and
Opinions in the United States, of the Federal Courts, State Courts,
and Referees in Bankruptcy
Volume 14
Database: Google Books Snippet; data might be inaccurate

[Begin excerpt]
>From these it appears that the purchases were at 55 cents on the
dollar. The additional 5 cents was obtained to pay back the $5,000
previously furnished through Gold and is referred to as the "nut
money."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 9:20 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> The OED has two exact matches for "making the nut". On match concerns
> "violoncello" players, and does not seem relevant. The other match
> appears in the 1933 cite below.
>
> nut, n.1 and adj.2
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> 8. U.S. slang.
>  a. The amount of money required for a venture; set-up or overhead
> costs. Originally in on the nut: out of pocket.
>
> 1909   W. Irwin Confessions Con Man 81   First, they took out the
> 'nut'. That is the general term, among gamblers for the expense
> account.
>
> 1912   A. H. Lewis Apaches of N.Y. 201   Every day I'm open puts me
> fifty dollars on th' nut.
>
> 1914   L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 62
> Nut,..used by grafters whose operations involve an investment to
> signify an expense incurred in connection with a venture.
>
> 1933   Sun (Baltimore) 28 Jan. 16/4   The difficulty of 'making the
> nut', the term applied to accumulating the rental charge due each
> night to the owner of the cab.
>
> 1936   Amer. Speech 11 219   He [sc. the producer] decides that in
> order to open the show a certain amount of money will be necessary.
> This amount is the production nut.
> [End excerpt]
>
> On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 7:36 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: "Making the nut" explained
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 12:28 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com>
>> quoted:
>>
>>> > I included the OED's note attached to another figurative sense of "nut",
>>> that it
>>> > alluded to _the difficulty in cracking a nut's hard shell_, which I
>>> suppose
>>> > _explains the "making the nut" idiom_.
>>>
>>
>> I don't understand. Except for that of the black walnut, for anyone with a
>> nutcracker or just a random stone, there's no difficulty in cracking a
>> nut's hard shell such as to explain the "making the nut" idiom. And, even
>> if there was any difficulty in cracking a nut's hard shell, how does that
>> "explain" the idiom?
>>
>> Am I completely missing the point? There's always a very good possibility
>> that that is the case, when I'm the only one with a question. :-(
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> -----
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
>> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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