As someone relatively new to the world of writing, I realize that I sometimes rely heavily upon canned phrases like cut and dried or cut the mustard and I began to wonder where these and other phrases came from. Have you ever wondered?
Cut and Dried - I found a couple different interpretations of where this phrase came from.
1. Cut and dried (also cut and dry): originally referring to herbs in the herbalists' shops, as contrasted with growing herbs; hence, fig. ready-made and void of freshness and spontaneity; also, ready shaped according to a priori formal notions. ( From the OED)
2. The first known use of the expression is in a letter to a clergyman in 1710 in which the writer commented that a sermon was “ready cut and dried”, meaning it had been prepared in advance, so lacking freshness and spontaneity.(From worldwidewords.com)
3. The origin is unknown. The earliest recorded use refers to a prepared sermon, from 1710. The next comes from Jonathan Swift, 1730, referring to dull, cliched prose, using a cliche:
Sets of phrases, cut and dry,
Evermore thy tongue supply;
And thy memory is loaded
With old scraps from plays exploded
(From Joshua Engrel on Quora))
How about cut the mustard ?
1. There has been an association between the heat and piquancy of mustard and the zest and energy of people's behaviour. The Encarta dictionary defines piquancy as spicy or salty, sharply stimulating or provocative or sharply critical and biting - in case you didn’t know. This dates back to at least 1672, when the term 'as keen as mustard' is first recorded. 'Up to mustard' or just 'mustard' means up to standard in the same way as 'up to snuff'. 'Cutting' has also long been used to mean 'exhibiting', as in the phrase 'cutting a fine figure'. Unless some actual evidence is found for the other proposed explanations, the derivation of 'cutting the mustard' as an alternative way of saying 'exhibiting one's high standards' is by far the most likely.
Whatever the coinage, the phrase itself emerged in the USA towards the end of the 19th century. The earliest example in print that I've found is from The Iowa State Reporter, August 1897, in a piece about the rivalry between two Iowa towns:
Dubuque had the crowds, but Waterloo "Cut the Mustard"
The use of quotation marks and the lack of any explanation of the term in that citation imply that 'cut the mustard' was already known to Iowa readers and earlier printed examples may yet turn up.
2. Here’s a different one. Just found an earlier use of cut the mustard that again seems to indicate a railroad lingo origin. This (see story to rt. of burglary report) is from The Weekly Californian, of Kern County, California, December 3, 1892. It is an account of an anniversary ball put on by the International Association of Machinists. Its use here clearly indicates The railroad boys were enthusiastic over their apparent success. Each had attended with his best girl looking her prettiest, in fact the boys themselves “cut the mustard” with the Bakersfieldians. The charming costumes of the ladies lent a brightness to the scene, which with the good music did not fail to elicit the appreciation of all present. The "railroad boys" met or exceeded the expected standard of appearance.
Other sources questioned whether the phrase originated as "cut the muster". When the troops are mustered, only the best are chosen, and thus a person makes the muster cut.
In the pre-civil war US militia system, individuals who failed to appear fit for service were "cut" from the muster. In both British and US usage, units as a whole pass or fail muster.
(All found @ English.stackexchange.com
How about the phrase pet-peeve?
As a phrase, “pet peeve” is fairly young, dating back to the early 1900’s. The components of the phrase go back further. I won’t go into the origin of “pet” because that is a pretty common word, referring here–ironically–to something of which a person is fond. The interesting part of the phrase is the word “peeve.”
“Peeve” is related to the older word “peevish,” which dates back to the late 14th century and means “perverse, capricious, or silly.” The word itself is of an uncertain origin, but could be from the Latin perversus, which spawned the words “perverse and reversed.” The idea is there that something peevish is backward from what is normal.
It isn’t a big leap to see how something that annoys us–a pet peeve–is a perversion of how we think things should be (like being annoyed if someone puts the fork on the right instead of the left of a plate), even if those things aren’t universally recognized as perverse . (Josh Mosey)
Kind of made me stop and think - just thought I’d share!
Happy Friday!
Cut and Dried - I found a couple different interpretations of where this phrase came from.
1. Cut and dried (also cut and dry): originally referring to herbs in the herbalists' shops, as contrasted with growing herbs; hence, fig. ready-made and void of freshness and spontaneity; also, ready shaped according to a priori formal notions. ( From the OED)
2. The first known use of the expression is in a letter to a clergyman in 1710 in which the writer commented that a sermon was “ready cut and dried”, meaning it had been prepared in advance, so lacking freshness and spontaneity.(From worldwidewords.com)
3. The origin is unknown. The earliest recorded use refers to a prepared sermon, from 1710. The next comes from Jonathan Swift, 1730, referring to dull, cliched prose, using a cliche:
Sets of phrases, cut and dry,
Evermore thy tongue supply;
And thy memory is loaded
With old scraps from plays exploded
(From Joshua Engrel on Quora))
How about cut the mustard ?
1. There has been an association between the heat and piquancy of mustard and the zest and energy of people's behaviour. The Encarta dictionary defines piquancy as spicy or salty, sharply stimulating or provocative or sharply critical and biting - in case you didn’t know. This dates back to at least 1672, when the term 'as keen as mustard' is first recorded. 'Up to mustard' or just 'mustard' means up to standard in the same way as 'up to snuff'. 'Cutting' has also long been used to mean 'exhibiting', as in the phrase 'cutting a fine figure'. Unless some actual evidence is found for the other proposed explanations, the derivation of 'cutting the mustard' as an alternative way of saying 'exhibiting one's high standards' is by far the most likely.
Whatever the coinage, the phrase itself emerged in the USA towards the end of the 19th century. The earliest example in print that I've found is from The Iowa State Reporter, August 1897, in a piece about the rivalry between two Iowa towns:
Dubuque had the crowds, but Waterloo "Cut the Mustard"
The use of quotation marks and the lack of any explanation of the term in that citation imply that 'cut the mustard' was already known to Iowa readers and earlier printed examples may yet turn up.
2. Here’s a different one. Just found an earlier use of cut the mustard that again seems to indicate a railroad lingo origin. This (see story to rt. of burglary report) is from The Weekly Californian, of Kern County, California, December 3, 1892. It is an account of an anniversary ball put on by the International Association of Machinists. Its use here clearly indicates The railroad boys were enthusiastic over their apparent success. Each had attended with his best girl looking her prettiest, in fact the boys themselves “cut the mustard” with the Bakersfieldians. The charming costumes of the ladies lent a brightness to the scene, which with the good music did not fail to elicit the appreciation of all present. The "railroad boys" met or exceeded the expected standard of appearance.
Other sources questioned whether the phrase originated as "cut the muster". When the troops are mustered, only the best are chosen, and thus a person makes the muster cut.
In the pre-civil war US militia system, individuals who failed to appear fit for service were "cut" from the muster. In both British and US usage, units as a whole pass or fail muster.
(All found @ English.stackexchange.com
How about the phrase pet-peeve?
As a phrase, “pet peeve” is fairly young, dating back to the early 1900’s. The components of the phrase go back further. I won’t go into the origin of “pet” because that is a pretty common word, referring here–ironically–to something of which a person is fond. The interesting part of the phrase is the word “peeve.”
“Peeve” is related to the older word “peevish,” which dates back to the late 14th century and means “perverse, capricious, or silly.” The word itself is of an uncertain origin, but could be from the Latin perversus, which spawned the words “perverse and reversed.” The idea is there that something peevish is backward from what is normal.
It isn’t a big leap to see how something that annoys us–a pet peeve–is a perversion of how we think things should be (like being annoyed if someone puts the fork on the right instead of the left of a plate), even if those things aren’t universally recognized as perverse . (Josh Mosey)
Kind of made me stop and think - just thought I’d share!
Happy Friday!