cut the mustard
cut the mustard
Meaning:
- to succeed
- to come up to expectations
- to be competent enough
- to be adequate enough to participate or compete
- to be up to the standard
Example:
- My neighbor had applied for the post of architect in a big project, but did not cut the mustard.
- That boy wants to be the captain of the team, but does he cut the mustard?
- I need a bigger knife for these large fruits; this one doesn’t cut the mustard.
- His friends and siblings helped him through this studies, but when it came to working, he couldn’t cut the mustard.
- He was a great player, but he retired sometime ago. We’ll have to see if he still cuts the mustard.
- Though he had practiced hard, on the day of the trials, he was not at his best, so could not cut the mustard.
- When he started his career, he was shy and reserved – no one thought he would cut the mustard; but now, his achievements speaks for themselves.
- I have made this flyer for the event. Do you think it would cut the mustard?
Origin:
The phrase originated in America in the late 1800s. However, why mustard is used as a reference to high quality is unclear.
devil’s advocate ❯❮ don’t give up the day job
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1 Thought
The idiom ‘cut the mustard’ gets my goat !
I like it better than ‘pass muster’.
I wanna publish but cannot quite cut the mustard.
- Swami Mounananda January 8, 2019