can't cut the mustard! origin of saying

evolving_doors

remember hearing a gay byrne show about 20 years ago and professor gay was expounding the fact that there seemed to be no origin for the phrase.

Anyone enlighten?

555

From Urban Dictionary:

This phrase originates from the Old English craft of Mustard making.

The chief mustard maker or Mustardeer would make their mustard in large oaken barrels, allowing each barrel to mature for a number of months. This maturing of the mustard produced a thick, leathery crust at the top of the barrel which would need to be removed before the contents could be tested.

The consistency of the crust would be such that a specialised cutting implement was required to remove it. Initially a modified scythe was used but this often lead to the crust being 'dragged' at certain points and falling into the rest of the mustard causing it to lose some of its distinctive flavour.

Over many years a specialised blade was developed that had an extremely thin leading edge which widened towards the centre and then tapered at the trailing edge although not to a sharp point. This allowed the blade to skim the majority of the topcrust off, leaving a very thin slice which would be left on to protect the mustard.

Due to the coarse, leathery nature of the topcrust the blade, over time, would develop dull spots along it's length and thus required constant monitoring.

When it was time to remove the topcrust the senior Mustardeer would instruct his apprentice to pass him the blade and would attempt to slice thorough the top leathery layer. The Mustardeer would know immediately if the blade was not sufficiently keen enough to complete the task and he would pass the blade back to the apprentice and say to him "I'm sorry, but That Doesn't Cut the Mustard"

The phrase has since passed into common usage describing anything that does not meet a certain standard.

evolving_doors

cheers

Peregrinus

The Urban Dictionary explanation is amusing, but totally bogus. The process of preparing mustard condiment is nothing like the process described. Until modern times, mustard was kept dry in ground form, and only moistened with water, milk or vinegar just before consumption. Moistened mustard doesn't "mature"; it goes stale and loses piquancy. Modern prepared mustards are kept stable in paste form only by the addition of stabilisers and preservatives.

The phrase "cut the mustard" is American in origin, and doesn't appear before ther 1890s - two other factors which make it unlikely that it has anything to do with "the Old English craft of Mustard making". It probably comes from an earlier American slang, in which "mustard" is used to refer to the main attraction, or the best of anything. To "cut the mustard" possibly orginally meant to set a new standard in excellence; to surpass what was previously considered to be the best.

Kevin the Kid

Highly Amusing.
But in fact -
Mustard was one of the main crops in Britain in the old days and British mustard was exported worldwide. It was of coarse cut by hand with scythes, in the same way as corn was in those days. As everybody knows the mustard plant crop could grow up to six feet high and this was extremely tough work, which required extremely sharp tools for cutting. When a blunt instrument not fit for the job was to be used it was said that the offending implement "would not cut the mustard".
Any mustard museum will tell you the same story.

Easy Peasey.

Peregrinus

There's two problems with this.

First, it doesn't explain why the phrase would originate in the US in the 1890s. Did the US have a vast mustard-growing industry at the time? I don't think so.

Secondly, it's not true. Yes, the mustard plant can grow to two metres, but you don't harvest mustard by cutting down the plant (for the same reason that you don't harvest apples by cutting down the tree). Mustard condiment is made from mustard seeds. You only need to harvest the seed-pods, and you can do that with a small knife, a secataurs or even with no tools at all.

You can harvest mustard by cutting down the entire plant, threshing it to recover the seed and then burning or ploughing in the stalks. But if you're doing that, you don't wait for the plant to grow to six feet; you harvest it as soon as it produces seed. It's typically 30 to 50 cm high at this point, and not at all woody.

evolving_doors

Ya I think this is why the question on Gay Byrne's radio show went unanswered.