Chrysti The Wordsmith: Cut the Mustard

Greetings of herbivores and welcome to Christie the wordsmith from KGO FM and Bozeman Montana. Someone who can't cut the mustard doesn't have what it takes to get the job done. If you've ever wondered what cutting the mustard has to do with competence you're not alone. Word watchers have been wondering for decades. One theory suggests that mustard is really a linguistic corruption of muster a military inspection. A soldier failing to meet the assessment standards does not cut the muster. Though this makes for a spicy etymological history most lexicographers dismiss it on lack of written evidence. Alternately the phrase might have had an agricultural origin rooted in the harvest of the mustard plant for its seeds and harvesting the stocks of the plant is arduous work. Someone who persevered and completed the harvest was able to cut the mustard. But the theory most phrase dictionaries favor is relatively prosaic. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the word mustard was American slang for the best or the finest. Oh Henry use the word in his 1894

cabbages and kings quote I'm not headlined in the bills but I'm the mustard in the salad dressing just the same. In 1994 the popular author wrote in his story heart of the West quote I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard. This is the first recorded citation of the phrase. And here it means having what's required for the circumstance. I'm Christie the wordsmith but Dave herbivores Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.