The history of the nutmeg -- Living the Dream

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3, 4, 5, 6 ]

Subject:

The history of the nutmeg

Author:
NWAS

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:43:29 02/19/04 Thu

HOW DID THE NUTMEG GET ITS NAME?

"Can you tell me why the 'nutmeg' is so called, and how long this term has been in use?" asks Dave Birrell. "I refuse to believe my girlfriend's suggestion that it comes from an abbreviation of a hapless defender's cry: 'Not my legs.'"

"The term nutmeg is cockney rhyming slang for leg," says Pete Tomlin. Therefore, when the ball is played between an opponent's legs, a player or fan shouts 'Nutmegs."

Jez Simmonds agrees: "According to none other than popular Sky pundit and former Fulham favourite Jimmy Hill, the expression nutmeg is little more than dodgy rhyming slang."

"Nutmeg equals leg, apparently, and was thus coined during the 1940s to describe the skill of placing the ball between an opponent's legs before retrieving it t'other side.

"Although I wasn't hugely convinced by this explanation, Jimmy generally knows his stuff - and, like me, is a Balham SW12 boy."

But what about the 'nut' part? According to Alex Leith's book 'Over the Moon, Brian - The Language of Football' "nuts" - a term commonly used for nutmeg in the north of England "refers to the testicles of the player through whose legs the ball has been passed and nutmeg is just a development from this." So now you know

Taken from the Guardian Onlines superb 'The Knowledge' archives...

<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://football.guardian.co.uk/news/theknowledge/0,9204,448018,00.html">http://football.guardian.co.uk/news/theknowledge/0,9204,448018,00.html</a>

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]