cut the mustard
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
- Probably from likening the pungency of the spice mustard as a superlative or as something that adds zest to a situation.
- Possibly derived from the idiom 'to pass muster', an expression for assembling military troops for inspection. A troop who has achieved excellent performance in, for example, a room inspection, is allowed to skip, or "cut" having to stand a formal muster or formation and go on liberty early, etc. Usage evidence does not support this derivation.
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb[edit]
cut the mustard (third-person singular simple present cuts the mustard, present participle cutting the mustard, simple past and past participle cut the mustard)
- (idiomatic) To suffice; to be good or effective enough.
- Give me the bigger hammer. This little one just doesn't cut the mustard.
Usage notes[edit]
- This idiom usually appears in negative polarity contexts: “doesn't cut the mustard”, “can't cut the mustard”, and so on.
Synonyms[edit]
- (be good enough): cut it, hack it, pass muster, be up to par, be up to snuff, make the cut, make the grade
Translations[edit]
be good or effective enough
References[edit]
- “Cut the mustard” in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, 2004, →ISBN.