| 词组 | cut the mustard |
| 释义 | cut the cheese and cut the mustard Theme: FLATULENCE tr. to release intestinal gas. (Crude. Use caution with the topic.)Who cut the cheese?People who cut the mustard in the car have to get out and walk. Theme: SKILL tr. 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?She's not too old to cut the mustard. cut the mustard1. 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! cut the mustardPerform 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] cut the mustardcome 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. (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’.cut the mustardverbSee cut the cheese cut the mustard1. 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. cut the mustard To perform up to expectations or to a required standard. cut the mustard, toTo 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. |
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