# Old saying \[origin: Too old to cut the mustard\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 16, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492 "2013-12-16T20:04:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lk1932](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lk1932)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/1 "2013-12-16T20:04:21Z")
Anybody know how the old saying, Too old to cut the mustard, originated?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/2 "2013-12-16T20:42:08Z")
I’ve never heard ‘too old to cut the mustard’, but ‘cut the mustard’ has been around since 1907 according to [word detective](http://www.word-detective.com/122099.html).
> [@](#):
>
> We do know that “cut the mustard” first appeared in print in an O. Henry story in 1907 and has been in pretty constant use since then, but exactly to what mustard “cut the mustard” might refer is still up in the air.
>
> Years before “cut the mustard” showed up to mystify us, “mustard” was being used as slang for “that which adds zest” or “the best of anything,” obviously referring to real mustard. To “cut the mustard” would then logically mean “to match the best in any situation.”
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/3 "2013-12-16T23:11:31Z")
If cut the mustard means to match the best, then being too old to match the best would logically follow.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/4 "2013-12-16T23:19:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I’ve never heard ‘too old to cut the mustard’,
It’s a classic. Rosemary Clooney and Marlene Dietrich version of [He’s Too Old to Cut the Mustard Anymore](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6x30dIiLqA) (1952)
[Ernest Tubb and Red Fole](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-l2GgSkA6U)y (1951)
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### Author:  [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/5 "2013-12-16T23:36:53Z")
> [@lk1932](#):
>
> Anybody know how the old saying, Too old to cut the mustard, originated?
“Cut the mustard” always struck me as a probable corruption of the military’s “pass muster” (meet requirements - usually physical, or pass inspection).
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/6 "2013-12-16T23:40:14Z")
> [@epbrown01](#):
>
> “Cut the mustard” always struck me as a probable corruption of the military’s “pass muster” (meet requirements - usually physical, or pass inspection).
That’s one theory, but there isn’t any evidence for that form.
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### Author:  [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/7 "2013-12-16T23:56:52Z")
Quinion, a respected etymology columnst suggests:
> [@](#):
>
> likely that it’s a development of the long-established use of mustard as a superlative, as in phrases such as keen as mustard. In the nineteenth century in America, mustard was used figuratively to mean something that added zest to a situation, and the proper mustard was something that was the genuine article.
[World Wide Words: Cut the mustard](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cut1.htm)
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/8 "2013-12-17T00:44:47Z")
As an addition–the OED now has examples back to 1891, and nothing to dispute the “mustard” useage.
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### Author:  [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/9 "2013-12-17T15:02:09Z")
Could it possibly be a question of misspelling a homonym… that “mustard” should be “mustered”…
The way I hear it, if one “can’t cut the mustered”, one lacks the necessary skill/ability to be called to that particular group.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/10 "2013-12-17T16:30:04Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#):
>
> Could it possibly be a question of misspelling a homonym… that “mustard” should be “mustered”…
> The way I hear it, if one “can’t cut the mustered”, one lacks the necessary skill/ability to be called to that particular group.
As has been said before, there is no support for that form in print.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/11 "2013-12-18T22:39:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I’ve never heard ‘too old to cut the mustard’, but ‘cut the mustard’ has been around since 1907 according to [word detective"](http://www.word-detective.com/122099.html).
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > We do know that “cut the mustard” first appeared in print in an O. Henry story in 1907 and has been in pretty constant use since then, but exactly to what mustard “cut the mustard” might refer is still up in the air.
> >
> > Years before “cut the mustard” showed up to mystify us, “mustard” was being used as slang for “that which adds zest” or “the best of anything,” obviously referring to real mustard. To “cut the mustard” would then logically mean “to match the best in any situation.”
Why does the use of the verb “cut” imply “to match” ? Why not “taste the mustard” or “spread the mustard”? Mustard is not a substance I would normally associate with cutting.
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/12 "2013-12-18T22:42:33Z")
Mustard is a plant that needs to be cut and harvested to make prepared or dry mustard powder or mustard greens. It makes sense, to me at least, that too old to cut the mustard means not able to do the job required.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/13 "2013-12-19T02:13:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> If cut the mustard means to match the best, then being too old to match the best would logically follow.
I don’t think it does mean “match the best”, though; it means something like “be adequate to the task”. (Which is why the “pass muster” derivation at least makes some sense.)
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### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/14 "2013-12-19T05:59:16Z")
Keen Mustard is a famous and long lasting brand of mustard from 1742.
So “keen as mustard” probably comes from there , at least contributing to its usage as a phrase, due to the double entendre related humour about the expression.
Now, if someone is not de-sensitised to mustard, one’s lower GI may be a bit irritated by it… Hence the double entendre… the hidden metaphore… The result may be one is as “keen as mustard”… to go ! And the result ? More mustard.
So “to put the mustard on” means “shit on”, and “cut the mustard” could mean … being able to fart without being incontinent.
I really think the origins of the three phrases is in the similarity between mustard and the result of eating too much… Now that spam isn’t so common any more, we might have forgotten the origins.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/15 "2013-12-19T14:27:18Z")
> [@Isilder](#):
>
> Keen Mustard is a famous and long lasting brand of mustard from 1742.
>
> So “keen as mustard” probably comes from there , at least contributing to its usage as a phrase, due to the double entendre related humour about the expression.
The mustard brand was apparently founded by a guy named Keen, but _keen_ also means “sharp” and by extension “pungent.” The OED has quotations going back to 1398 that describe certain herbs as keen, and mustard is certainly among the most pungent flavors.
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### Author:  [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/16 "2013-12-19T17:26:36Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#):
>
> Could it possibly be a question of misspelling a homonym… that “mustard” should be “mustered”…
> The way I hear it, if one “can’t cut the mustered”, one lacks the necessary skill/ability to be called to that particular group.
I agree. This seems like the most likely answer.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-saying-origin-too-old-to-cut-the-mustard/676492/17 "2013-12-19T20:06:39Z")
> [@Jake](#):
>
> I agree. This seems like the most likely answer.
The only problem with the misspelling explanation is, to have a misspelling you have to have many more instances where “cut the mustered” is is spelled correctly, which we just don’t see in the literature.