nutmeg : noun A nutmeg is the seed nutmeg fruit, ovoid, brown, wrinkled, with an aromatic odor, used as spice.
Small cork ball used by conjurers in their sleight of hand.
Figurative phrase: Pass (or go) nutmeg : it's over, it's over; the turn is played (expression of conjurer) (see below).
The expression “Pass, nutmeg! " : That's it !
Nutmeg is a spice that is used in various dishes and desserts (and even some cocktails). It comes in the form of small ovoid nuts up to 3 cm long and 2 cm in diameter.
The link that this spice can have with our expression is not obvious.
It comes from the practices of goblet players or conjurers from the beginning of the XNUMXth century. Indeed, for their sleight of hand, they used cork balls whose appearance was very comparable to that of nutmeg.
At the end of the XNUMXth century, the expression go, nutmeg! usually punctuated the disappearance of this cork ball. It then gradually deformed into pass, nutmeg! while extending figuratively to other uses to signify that the trick was played.