cut the mustard
idiom

- if someone does not cut the mustard, their work or performance is not as good as it should be or as good as it is expected to be.

- perform satisfactorily; to do a good job; to come up to a required standard; to succeed. Often used in negative form.

- to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough; to suffice.

Collins English Dictionary, American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Oxford English Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

This phrase first surfaced in American English in 1891, when the Omaha World-Herald twice used it in baseball reports: "Minneapolis worked hard to win the game but the Millers could not cut the mustard notwithstanding herculean efforts." The earliest known printed use dates to a Texan newspaper the same year.

By 1907, O. Henry had cemented the phrase in literary English: "I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard" (Heart of the West).

Why mustard? In early 20th-century American slang, "mustard" meant the best or the genuine article — probably because mustard was seen as the thing that gave food its real kick. Something that "cut the mustard" measured up to that sharp standard. The verb cut carried the older sense of "to exhibit" or "to manage successfully" (as in cutting a rug, or cutting a fine figure).

The idiom typically appears in negative contexts: can't cut the mustard, didn't cut the mustard, won't cut the mustard.

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MUSTARD PLASTERS

Mustard was used as both a condiment and medicine by the ancient Egyptians, Sumerians and Chinese. The first century Greek physician, Dioscorides, 40–90 AD prescribed mustard for everything from tonsillitis to epilepsy. The Romans combined ground mustard seed with vinegar to make an ointment for snakebites and scorpion stings, or chewed the seed to relieve toothaches.

However, the most common medicinal use of mustard through the centuries was the mustard plaster. It was first recommended by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, as a treatment for pulmonary illnesses and rheumatism.

Although there are various recipes for making a plaster, all basically use ground mustard seed – preferably from the black seed variety, and flour mixed with water. The paste is then wrapped in a cloth and placed on the affected area. The original theory being that the heat caused by the mustard's substances would draw out poisons from the body.

FUN FACT:

When asked how he had made such a vast fortune from the sale of mustard, Jeremiah James Colman (Colman’s Mustard founder) replied:

“I make my money from the uneaten mustard that people leave on the sides of their plate.”

We always remember that whenever we see left-over mustard :-)

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

acceptable, adequate, appropriate, be equal to the task (worth one's salt), bear scrutiny, clear the bar, come through with flying colours, come up to scratch (to standard, to the mark, with the goods), competent, crack it, cut it, CUT THE MUSTARD, deliver on the promise (the goods), do justice to it, do the job (the trick), earn one's keep, fill the bill, fit for purpose, get the job done, good enough, hack it, hit the mark, hold water, make it (the cut, the grade), measure up (to expectations), meet expectations (requirements, the bar, the brief, the required standard), not drop the ball, on point (the money), pass inspection (muster, the test), passable, pull it off, qualify, rise to the occasion, satisfactory, serve the purpose, sound, stand the test (up to scrutiny), stand up, sufficient, suitable, tick all the boxes, tolerable, up to par (to scratch, to snuff, to standard, to the mark), within spec, work as intended

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“The content of much of social media just doesn’t CUT THE MUSTARD these days.”

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