How did the phrase "cut the mustard" get started?

Cut the mustard

Meaning

To succeed; to come up to expectations.

Origin

Why cutting mustard was chosen as an example of high quality is unclear. As always in such circumstances, there are no shortage of guesses. Some of these allude to the literal difficulty of cutting mustard in its various forms; for example:

- Mustard seed, which is hard to cut with a knife on account of its being small and shiny.

- Mustard plants, which are tough and stringy and grow densely.

- Culinary mustard, which is cut (diluted) and made more palatable by the addition of vinegar.

- Dried mustard paste, which was reputedly used to coat meat and then dried to form a crust.

There is no evidence to support these derivations and they give the impression of having been retro-fitted in an attempt at plausibility.

Another supposed explanation is that the phrase is simply a mistaken version of the military expression 'cut the muster'. This appears believable at first sight. A little research shows it not to be so. Muster is the calling together of soldiers, sailors, prisoners, to parade for inspection or exercise. To cut muster would be a breach of discipline; hardly a phrase that would have been adopted with the meaning of success or excellence. This line of thought appears to have been influenced by confusion with the term 'pass muster', which would have the correct meaning, but which could hardly be argued to be the origin of 'cut the mustard'. The OED, which is the most complete record of the English language, along with all of the other reference works I've checked, don't record 'cut the muster' at all. The fact that documented examples of 'cut the mustard' are known from many years before any for 'cut the muster' would appear to rule out the latter as the origin.

It probably relates to the chore of cutting mustard plants before they go to seed to keep farm fields clear of the weed.

http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2014/05/history-and-etym...

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how can you cut a sauce?