Episode 261: Cut the Mustard

 

This week Shauna and Dan look into the phrase "Cut the Mustard". Does this originate with the yellow mustard stuff, or perhaps from a mishearing of a military term? Bonus: Old political parties, bad internet habits, and a silly commercial from the 1980s

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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
Episode 261: Cut the Mustard
Record Date: January 5, 2025
Air Date: January 8, 2025

Intro

Shauna:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase.

I’m Shauna Harrison

Dan:
And I’m Dan Pugh

Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today.

Opening Hook
Have you ever been working on something with a team? Maybe it’s a group project at school or a large project at work. Often there will be someone who isn’t doing their fair share or just isn’t capable of keeping up with the rest of the team. When that happens, you might say that person cannot cut the mustard.

Meaning

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Cut the Mustard means:

Quote
to come up to expectations, to meet requirements, to succeed
End Quote
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/mustard_n?tab=meaning_and_use#35596557

The Oxford English Dictionary goes on to note the phrase is frequently used in negative contexts, meaning someone is unable to cut the mustard, or they are not cutting the mustard.

I know what you are thinking… Why would cutting a yellow, liquid condiment mean meeting expectations?

The Oxford English Dictionary notes the phrase may allude to the difficulty of cutting tall mustard plants during harvest. It also notes there is another interpretation where the word may have originally been muster - meaning to assemble or collect. In this case, it would have likely come from pass muster, which is a military expression meaning to pass an inspection. While the two phrases do have a similar meaning, the OED notes there is no current evidence linking pass muster to the word cut, nor does the phrase cut the muster or even cut muster make much sense without a connection through the word cut. Also, mustard was already a popular subject of older phrases such as hot as mustard or strong as mustard meaning powerful or passionate, and keen as mustard meaning enthusiastic. It seems more likely the phrase comes from the mustard plant itself.

If you want to hear more about mustard, you can join us Friday on Patreon where our behind the scenes video will feature more on the history of this plant and its spread. The behind the scenes video for each episode is available on our Patreon every Friday at patreon.com/bunnytrailspod

Now, let’s look at our phrase.

1884
The first attestations are from the mid 1880s. The Oxford English Dictionary has one from the Burden Enterprise out of Kansas dated August 14, 1884. This one is from an article talking about the 1884 Prohibition National Convention in Pennsylvania. The Prohibition Party was a political party that was effectively a temperance movement. In the newspaper, it mentions how the Kansas Governor John St. John was nominated. Here is the title and the opening sentence:

Quote
Can't cut the mustard. The prohibition convention at Pittsburgh last week, nominated St. John for president, notwithstanding he declared he did not want it.
End Quote

Next up are a pair of entries in 1886 that help us understand the way the phrase was being used.

1886
This one is from a gossip column in the Lexington Weekly Intelligencer out of Missouri dated March 13, 1886.

Quote
Sam went to see Miss Mollie last Sunday evening, and as the butter and biscuit had given out, Sam did not stay long. Sam you could not cut the mustard.
End Quote
https://newspaperarchive.com/lexington-lexington-weekly-intelligencer-mar-13-1886-p-1/

I just feel bad for folks who had their business put on display for the local newspaper’s gossip columns. At least these days you can report a post and have it taken down. Poor Sam, not able to make it work here with Miss Mollie.

1886
Here’s another example from the same year in the Butler Weekly Times, also out of Missouri. This one is April 7, 1886.

Quote
“Can’t cut the mustard” is what our good brother Wade of the Butler Bemocrat calls getting left on a post office. This jargon of a political juggler shall not divert our attention from the main issue which is, that Wade’s days as a boss in Bates are numbered, and we will wager him a ton of Henry county coal against a half dozen lots in Walnut and three or four of his last year’s railroads that he “can’t deliver the goods”, either directly or indirectly.
End Quote

1889
Here’s one from the Barton County Democrat out of Kansas dated November 7, 1889. This is a headline in the newspaper talking about election victories for the democrats.

Quote
Mud slinging don’t win, but honest, efficient officers and a clean capaign (sic) cuts the mustard
End Quote
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83040198/1889-11-07/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1756&sort=date&date2=1963&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=5&words=CUTS+MUSTARD&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=%22cut+the+mustard%22&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2

I thought this was interesting because it is used in the positive.

1900
This next one also uses it in the positive. This is from The Madison Courier out of Indiana dated March 24, 1900. This piece follows horse racing and talks about what has happened recently with sales, purchases, practices, and the like.

Quote
“Doc” Cheatam will be at the Park with a string about the 1st of April. He will have Louis Richarson’s Dr. Curtis. This colt ought to be able to “cut the mustard” this fall.
End Quote
https://newspaperarchive.com/madison-courier-mar-24-1900-p-1/

1904
This next one seems to be frequently cited as the origin of this phrase, but as we’ve seen the phrase has been in use for over 20 years before this book was published. This book is Heart of the West by O. Henry, published in 1904. Here is the section that uses the phrase:

Quote
By nature and doctrines I am addicted to the habit of discovering choice places wherein to feed. So I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard.
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Heart_of_the_West/yw4s4oJijFEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=cut%20the%20mustard

1914
This next one is out of The Ledge which bills itself as the oldest mining newspaper in British Columbia. This is out of Canada and is dated January 15, 1914

Quote
In the rattle of life’s battle
We resort to forces queer
But the force of all the forces
Is caloric atmosphere
For it’s air that fans our faces
And its wing that stirs the crowd
As we struggle for the pesos
From the bibbin to the shroud

One may emulate a bishop
Have his piety as well
Have his head so full of wisdom
As the almost burst the shell
Have the knowledge of a master
And a double joined pull
But he cannot cut the mustard
If he cannot throw the bull
End Quote
https://newspaperarchive.com/fernie-ledge-jan-15-1914-p-1/


1927
Here’s an example of the phrase in a dictionary from 1927. This is from American Speech Volume II, edited by Louise Pound, Kemp Malone, and Arthur Kennedy. In it, they give the phrase, define it, and then use it in a sentence.

Quote
Cut the mustard (verb phrase), to be unable to perform an assigned task; always used negatively. “The boys could not cut the mustard in that game”
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Speech/79c4AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22cut+the+mustard%22&pg=PA352&printsec=frontcover

This one notes the phrase is always used negatively, though I think we’ve seen plenty of examples to show that isn’t always the case.

1940
Here is an account from the United States House of Representatives conversation about the Farm Credit Legislation dated March 21, 1940. In it Albert Goss, the former Land Bank Commissioner, is testifying to the House Committee on Agriculture. In this snippet he is asked a question by Representative Fred Cummings of Colorado.  

Quote
Mr. Cummings: If a man gets a loan and over a period of years he has demonstrated that he cannot cut the mustard, how is he going to demonstrate it in a period of 12 months? There might be better crops, better prices, than he had when he reached that point. How are you going to build him over in 12 months?
Mr. Goss: As a matter of fact in a 12-year period he has demonstrated that he could not “cut the mustard”.
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hearings/7DVa2CSb_MgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22cut+the+mustard%22&pg=RA10-PA194&printsec=frontcover

When Rep. Cummings used the phrase, it was not in quotations. However, when Mr. Goss used the phrase it was in quotations. This tells me that likely the recorder was unsure if it was meant literally by Rep. Cummings, in that he was talking about mustard crops. But the recorder was certain that Mr. Goss was using the phrase figuratively, meaning unable to perform.

With that, it’s time to move to our more modern uses but first we need to say thank you to our sponsors.

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Modern Uses

1950 Song
We’ll start off the modern uses right where we left off before the break.
Too Old to Cut the Mustard is a 1950 song by The Carlisles. It was released in 1951 by Ernest Tubb and Red Foley in a county and western style and in 1952 by Rosemary Clooney and Marlene Dietrich in a jazzy pop standards style. Here’s the first verse and the chorus from the Tubb and Foley version:

Quote
When I was young, I had a lotta pep
I could get around, didn't need no help
But now you're old and a gettin' gray
The people all look at you and say

Too old, too old, he's too old to cut the mustard anymore
He's getting' too old, he's done, got too old
He's too old to cut the mustard anymore
End Quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmo0s2ynZHI

1987 Book
Cutting the Mustard: Affirmative Action and the Nature of Excellence is a 1987 non-fiction book by Marjorie Heins. It is published in the genre of law material and according to the publisher it is about:

Quote
… the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its relationship to affirmative action and sexism.
End Quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cutting_the_Mustard/k2lK8zEJ-oEC?hl=en&gbpv=0

1998 Song
Cut the Mustard is a 1998 song written by Shel Silverstein and performed by Mel Tillis with the group Old Dogs (Mel Tillis, Jerry Reed, Waylon Jennings, and Bobby Bare). Here are some of the lyrics:

Quote
I said "now, I don't wanna hurt your pride"
"You're cooking is known far and wide"
"But I'm expected home for dinner so I must decline" (wonder why he must decline)
But Dolly yelled "what's the matter buster, Are you too old to cut the mustard?"
I turned my silver head and I replied...

"No, I ain't too old to cut the mustard, I'm just too tired to spread it around"
"So I gotta turn you and your bar- b- que down, down, down, down
"So leave me alone, I'm goin' on home to the best home cookin in town"
I ain't too old to cut the mustard, just too tired to spread it down
End Quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJWvAvNp4I

2008 Movie
Cuttin Da Mustard is a 2008 comedy movie. Here’s the synopsis from their trailer:

Quote
Aspiring actor Rolo feels misunderstood when he reenacts a classic monologue from Menace II Society at a shakespearean acting class, so he enrolls at the smaller Queens theater company. There he meets a mixed bag of dreamers, all confident they've got what it takes to make it in show business, including his best friend Patrick and a Nuyorican hottie named Erma. When the company's director leaves for a sitcom gig, Rolo is asked to take over and keep everyone's dream alive. But before he can do this, he must overcome some very serious personal obstacles and prove he has what it takes to "cut the mustard."
End Quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odzmfe2ADiE

2019 Book
Murder Cuts the Mustard is a 2019 cozy mystery book by Jessica Ellicot, part of her A Beryl and Edwina Mystery series. Here’s the synopsis from Penguin Random House

Quote
In the lean years following World War I, brash American adventuress Beryl Helliwell and prim and proper Brit Edwina Davenport form a private inquiry agency to make ends meet, hoping that crime does indeed pay . . .
 
The latest occurrence to disturb the peace in the quaint English village of Walmsley Parva hits rather too close to home—in fact, the prime suspect has taken up residence in Edwina’s potting shed. Her elderly gardener Simpkins has been secretly sleeping there after a row with his disreputable brother-in-law and housemate, Hector Lomax.
 
When Hector is found murdered in the local churchyard, Constable Gibbs comes looking for Simpkins, who was last seen arguing with his kin in the pub the night before. Based on the sad state of her garden, Edwina has grave doubts that the shiftless Simpkins could muster the effort to murder anyone. The two sleuths throw themselves into weeding out suspects and rooting out the real killer.
 
But this is no garden variety murder. The discovery of a valuable ring, a surprise connection to Colonel Kimberly’s Condiment Company, and a second homicide all force Beryl and Edwina to play catch-up as they relish the chance to contain the culprit . . .
End Quote
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608505/murder-cuts-the-mustard-by-jessica-ellicott/

Current Artwork
Cut the Mustard is a limited edition photography artwork by Nathan Myhrvold. It features a mustard bottle exploding out of the top at a non-descript fast food container of fries. Here's the description from the Modernist Cuisine Gallery by Nathan Myhrvold website.

Quote
Mustard first met the hot dog at the 1904 World’s Fair. Its popularity has been exploding ever since. In Belgium and France, the ancestral home of “French” fries, mustard is the preferred condiment, not ketchup. Nathan couldn’t choose just one, so he created Cut the Mustard as a companion piece to Don’t Whack the Bottle.
End Quote
https://modernistcuisinegallery.com/artwork/cut-the-mustard/


Wrap Up
I actually like this phrase, despite feeling it is a bit silly. It makes me laugh because anytime someone uses the phrase cut the mustard it makes me think of a 1981 Grey Poupon mustard commercial in which a fancy guy is sitting in the back of his car eating a full meal when another car pulls up to him and says “pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon” and the fancy guy says, “But of course” and hands him the container through the window. It’s such an absurdist take and the whole commercial feels outdated. But it was so funny to watch. And I feel the same way about this phrase. It feels almost silly or absurd to say, but just like the Grey Poupon mustard, I really like it for some reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvDazrJuSdA

Dan:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included,
reach out to us on Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod or comment on our website bunnytrailspod.com

Shauna:
It’s poll time!

Recently we asked our patrons, what is your favorite drinking water?

1st place was home filtered water, followed by no preference, then spring or glacier water, and then sparkling water. Mineral water did not seem to appeal to our Patrons, nor did alkaline water.

Heather said:

Quote
I'm not picky about plain water and mostly drink tap, but I recently started drinking flavored water. There are a bunch of brands but I really like Bai; it refreshes me when I would otherwise reach for a soda.
End Quote

Dan:
Emily added:

Quote
When at home I drink filtered tap water. When traveling in the US, I drink bottled water because the (ph? minerals?) water in some places upsets my stomach
End Quote

Personally, I’m fine with tap water most of the time, too. I have a filter in the fridge and that water tastes better, so at home I usually do that. But I also like most brands of bottled water. I strongly dislike mineral water as it leaves me feeling thirsty even after I drink it. Makes me feel like Tantalus.

Shauna:
As a reminder, our silly polls mean absolutely nothing and are not scientifically valid. And patrons of all levels, including our free tiers, can take part. Head over to patreon.com/bunnytrailspod to take this week’s poll!

Outro

Shauna:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember,

Together:
Words belong to their users.