MUSTARD!

I read somewhere that it's a hot colour this season, so called 'IT' colour of the season. From the linguistic point of view it can be a hot word – used in some interesting phrases!

MUSTARD is basically a plant whose seeds are used to make MUSTARD, in Polish we would call it GORCZYCA. That's why MUSTARD is MUSTARD – because it's made of MUSTARD ;))) So, MUSZTARDA is MUSTARD too. It's a yellowish paste with a taste that ranges from sweet to spicy – there are many types of it: DIJON, WHOLE-GRAIN (gruboziarnista), HONEY (miodowa), FRENCH or RUSSIAN – just to mention a few of them.

MUSTARD is also a colour, which I already mentioned. A combination of yellow and brown – we could call it a brownish-yellow colour. 

If you CUT THE MUSTARD, you reach the expected or necessary standard – in other words – you COME UP TO EXPECTATIONS:

Just obeying orders doesn'r cut the mustard here, you know? 

Wykonywanie poleceń tutaj nie wystarczy, wiesz?

They say he's a bit too old and doesn't cut the mustard.

Mówią, że jest odrobinę za stary i już nie wystarczająco dobry.

She wanted to join our chess club but she just couldn't cut the mustard.

Chciała wstąpić do naszego klubu szachowego ale nie była wystarczająco dobra.

You might have also heard the phrase MUSTARD GAS – it's a poisonous gas that can burn your eyes, skin, nose, throat, lungs and probably any other organs you can come up with;)). No, seriously – it's very dangerous and was especially used during the First World War – then it gained such bad fame. (In Polish we call it IPERYT)

 

Finally, you can also be (AS) KEEN AS MUSTARD – that means that you are very keen on something or wanting to do something very much:

When I told her she can help us do the washing up, she was as keen as mustard!

Kiedy jej powiedziałem, że może nam pomóc w zmywaniu naczyń – wprost tryskała entuzjazmem!

Have fun and be as keen as mustard!