THE CAT'S PAJAMAS XL

Tad Tuleja 

A collection of the (mostly) true origins of familiar phrases

CUT THE MUSTARD

There are several proposed etymologies for this expression, which means to meet or surpass a standard of performance - to be able to do something successfully. One version is that cut the expression evolved from passing muster, as a soldier who passes formal inspection. Another refers to the mustard plant itself. When mustard was one of the main crops in East England, it was cut by hand with scythes, in the same way as corn. The mustard could grow up to six feet high, and this was very arduous work, requiring extremely sharp tools. When the tools were blunt, they would not "cut the mustard." Perhaps the same phrase was used to describe workers who were not up to the difficult task.

A third version suggest this phrase and the sexual connotation that it often carries derive from the ancient Middle East. Centuries before Jesus used the mustard seed as a symbol for faith, it was a symbol of masculine power. As such, it figured in a prenuptial ritual that was popular form Mesopotamia to the Balkans. Tribal leaders equated martial and sexual accomplishments, and demanded that a groom-to-be prove his potential for fatherhood by demonstrating his skill with a sword. A mustard seed was placed on a chopping block, a blade was placed in the young hopeful's hand, and he was instructed to cut the mustard. If he failed to split the tiny seed after three tries, he was deemed unworthy of marriage, and had to wait a year to try again.