Cut to the Chase | Meaning & Origin
The idiom cut to the chase means “speak about something without wasting time or including unimportant details.”
“Cut to the chase” originated in the 1920s, when silent film editors would splice in a chase scene after a slower scene in order to keep the audience’s attention. Hence, the expression is used to refer to the act of skipping to the most important or exciting part of a conversation.
How to use cut to the chase
“Cut to the chase” can be used as a command to get someone to discuss the main point of a topic. In other words, “cut to the chase” means “get to the point.” It can also be used to indicate that someone skipped unimportant information in a past conversation (e.g., “He finally cut to the chase and told me what the problem was”).
“Cut to the chase” is typically avoided in professional contexts, as it can be considered rude or abrupt (e.g., “Cut to the chase already; I’m bored”).
Cut to the chase origin
During the silent film era, a popular trope was to have a chase scene as the climax of the movie. When a film had too much exposition or intertitle cards for dialogue, studio executives would give directors the advice to “cut to the chase” so that audiences wouldn’t be bored.
Geoffrey Chaucer coined an early version of the phrase in The Wife of Bath’s Tale from The Canterbury Tales. He wrote, “And shortly forth this tale for to chace,” meaning “to cut a long story short.”
Frequently asked questions about cut to the chase
- Where did cut to the chase come from?
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The idiom “cut to the chase” originates from the silent film era of the 1920s. Directors and writers would literally cut to a chase scene after a slower sequence to keep the audience’s attention.
- What is a synonym for cut to the chase?
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Some synonyms or near synonyms for the idiom “cut to the chase” include:
- Be frank
- Don’t beat around the bush
- Get down to brass tacks
- Get down to business
- Get on with it
- Get to the point
- Say what you have to say