Re: [CH] MUSTARD

The Old Bear (oldbear@arctos.com)
Sun, 02 Aug 1998 09:29:36 -0400

In Chile-Heads Digest, v.5 #2, John Benz Fentner, Jr. wrote:

| Date: Sat, 01 Aug 1998 19:34:16 -0400
| From: "John Benz Fentner, Jr." <jbenz@courant.infi.net>
| Subject: Re: [CH] MUSTARD
| 
| Chipotle Coyote wrote:
| 
| > Those of you who are mustard fans.. might want to know August 3rd
| > is national mustard day.
| 
| Ah...it is indeed and, by strange coincidence, this appeared in 
| this week's World Wide Words from Michael Quinion:
| 
| Q.  Some years ago I came across an article about a zoo and its
| new acquisition, a lion. The zoo had hoped to gain cubs, but this
| lion, as the newspaper gleefully informed me, was unable to "cut
| his mustard". What has mustard got to do with it? Is there a good
| story behind this expression or is it just one of those enduring
| nonsenses? [Jerzy Wawro]
| 
| A.  It seems that the phrase is of early twentieth-century US
| origin.  For a while before then, 'mustard' was used alone
| figuratively to mean something that added zest to a situation. 
| The first recorded use of the phrase is by O Henry in 1907, in 
| a story called _The Heart of the West_

Yes, O. Henry was a master of using the language of the common man 
in creating his characters.  But the expression "to cut the mustard" 
appears to have originated during the US Civil War (1861-65) when 
troops were "mustered" and groups of soldiers were selected for 
specific missions.  The expression "cut the mustard" is more closely 
related to the contemporary usage "to make the cut" -- i.e., to be 
selected -- than with anything to do with the condiment.

Now, does anyone know why New Englanders call the pungent and 
greenish 'liver' found in a lobster the 'tomalley' and whether or 
not this has anything to do with the Mexican corn-wrapped and 
chile-filled 'tomale'?

Cheers,
The Old Bear