“Cut the mustard.” “To the nines.” “Up to snuff.” Phrase origins are often a rabbit hole down which one can fall, often with no end in reach. In these cases the exact origins have so far not surfaced.
Ain’t the English language great?
“Cut the mustard.” “To the nines.” “Up to snuff.” Phrase origins are often a rabbit hole down which one can fall, often with no end in reach. In these cases the exact origins have so far not surfaced.
Ain’t the English language great?
One of my favorite books growing up was a copy of the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, a wonderful book with discursive little essays about hundreds of words and phrases. It is, unfortunately, now out of print.
I’ll venture that “not up to snuff” means “not prepared to make a pornographic film in which the performers are killed.” But that’s just a guess.
Actually, that one at least has an origin scholars can point to:
The Morris book is available via Amazon, but there are only ten copies left and it’s a pricey $44.
I’ve always wondered how long that mustard must’ve been sitting out for one to need to cut it.
If that tickles your funny bone, then I have a radio show to suggest to you. Says You! is a show that focuses on “gentleman’s humor”, and it is my favorite show to listen to on the weekend. The show has done sections on the origins of familiar words and phrases (among others). It is on KIPO on Thursday afternoons (according to their website, which might be a bit out of date). I listen to the show on Saturday afternoons on WRVO (Syracuse, NY), or on WGBH (Boston) on Saturday evenings, or on my local NPR station of WILL (Urbana, IL) on Sunday mornings. Gotta love high-speed internet.
https://www.saysyou.net/
James, we’re lucky enough to get Says You on Thursday afternoons right after a BBC program called My Word!, which hasn’t had a fresh edition since 1990.
Wow. I was pretty sure it was old, but 1990?!? Jeebus. There must be another half-hour show more current than that that HPR could find to run in that slot.