cut the mustard
cut the mustard
1. slang To work or operate in a satisfactory manner. The origin of this phrase is debated. I need a new worker from the temp agency—the one you sent over keeps mixing up orders and just isn't cutting the mustard. This toaster doesn't cut the mustard anymore. No matter what setting you choose, your toast comes out charred!
2. slang To work or act with energy and enthusiasm, as is characteristic of the young. That guy looks like he's 110 years old—there's no way he'll be able to cut the mustard stocking shelves all day!
3. rude slang To fart. I can't believe you cut the mustard in the car. Now we have to smell it all the way home!
See also: cut, mustard
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
cut the mustard
Perform satisfactorily, as in We need a better catcher; this one just doesn't cut the mustard. The origin of this expression is disputed. Some believe it alludes to mustard in the sense of the best or main attraction (owing to its spicing up food), whereas others believe it is a corruption of pass muster. Still others hold that it concerns the preparation of mustard, which involves adding vinegar to mustard seed to "cut" (reduce) its bitterness. The expression is often in negative form, as in the example. [Slang; c. 1900]
See also: cut, mustard
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
cut the mustard
come up to expectations; meet the required standard. informalMustard appears in early 20th-century US slang with the general meaning of ‘the best of anything’.
1998 New Scientist But if you want to go beyond this into hypersonic flight…they just don't cut the mustard.
See also: cut, mustard
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
(not) cut the ˈmustard
(not) be as good as expected or required: I didn’t cut the mustard as a hockey player. Mustard in this expression may possibly refer to an old-fashioned slang word used in American English, meaning ‘the best of anything’.See also: cut, mustard
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
cut the mustard
verbSee cut the cheese
See also: cut, mustard
cut the mustard
1. tv. to be able to do something requiring youth or vigor. (Usually in the expression too old to cut the mustard.) Do you really think he can cut the mustard?
2. Go to cut the cheese.
See also: cut, mustard
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
cut the mustard
To perform up to expectations or to a required standard.
See also: cut, mustard
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
cut the mustard, to
To do a good job; to come up to a required standard; to succeed. It often is put negatively, as someone cannot cut the mustard, that is, is not performing adequately. The term is American slang, and its origin is disputed. According to one authority, “mustard” used to signify the best or main attraction in a show, probably because this condiment enhances the flavor of other foods. It was this sense that O. Henry apparently intended when he wrote, “I’m not headlined in the bills, but I’m the mustard in the salad dressing, just the same” (Cabbages and Kings), and later (1904), “I . . . found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard.” Another etymologist believes it comes from the military term, to pass muster. A third theory is that it comes from the preparation of the condiment, which involves adding vinegar to ground-up mustard seed; the vinegar is said to “cut” the bitter taste.
See also: cut
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- cut the mustard, to
- can't cut the mustard
- a penny for them
- close enough for government work
- Government
- (as) sure as eggs (is eggs)
- (not) up to scratch
- not up to scratch
- up to scratch
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