Meaning & Analysis
Mustard, a condiment meant to be eaten with meat, is being served after the meat has already been consumed, making it useless.
Insights
Belated and Useless Action
The proverb is a metaphor for any action, solution, or assistance that arrives too late to be of any use. It highlights the folly of belated efforts, where the value of an action is entirely negated by its poor timing.
Missed Opportunity
It signifies a missed opportunity where the necessary component for success (the mustard) was not available at the critical moment (during the meal). The chance to improve or properly complete a task has been lost due to tardiness.
Critique of Poor Planning
The saying implicitly criticizes poor planning and a lack of foresight. It suggests that a situation has been mishandled because the required elements were not prepared or made available when they were needed.
Culinary and Historical Context
Rooted in common European culinary tradition, the proverb uses the familiar pairing of meat and mustard to make its point universally accessible. The value of mustard is inextricably linked to its consumption with the main dish, making its late arrival a clear and simple illustration of irrelevance.
Cultural Resonance
This proverb is part of a large family of sayings that critique belated actions, such as 'shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted' or 'after death, the doctor'. This demonstrates a deep-seated, cross-cultural recognition of the critical importance of timely intervention.
Psychological Insight
The proverb subtly critiques a lack of foresight and planning. It points to a psychological tendency to react to events rather than anticipate them, capturing the frustration felt when a solution is offered only after the problem has passed or been resolved.
Rhetorical Devices
Irony
The central device is situational irony, where an expected and helpful action (serving a condiment) becomes absurd and useless due to its timing.
Metaphor
The entire phrase functions as a metaphor, where 'meat' represents the primary event or opportunity, and 'mustard' symbolizes the supplementary action or tool that is only useful in that context.
Alliteration
The repetition of the 'm' sound in 'meat' and 'mustard' creates a memorable, rhythmic quality that enhances its proverbial nature.
Transcription
Quotations
The english sayeth, after dinner mustard.
What, quoth she, after meat, mustard.
After dinner mustard.
Mustard after meat.
It is even as good as Mustard after dinner.
After meat mustard; helpe when danger, supply when want, hath left vs.
Mustard after meat.
After meate, Mustard.
[As in a.1598 Ferg.]
After meat comes mustard; after the steed is stolen shut the stable door; when the Friar's beaten, then comes James. To come after the battel; a day after the fair.
After Meat Mustard.
Cross References
Annotations
- When there is no more use of it.
- Spoken when a Thing is brought in after the proper time.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.