Idiom 13: Cut to the chase

Hi. Look at our illustration. What’s going on here?

Well, there’s a chase. The police officer is chasing the bloke (the man) wearing an orange jumper, green trousers and … a blue hat. The police officer is chasing that man – he’s running after him. Why? To catch him! Good.

Now. There’s an idiom in English which goes like this: “Cut to the chase”. You can see the cut in the illustration: a pair of scissors cutting through a reel of film.

What does “cut to the chase” mean and where does it come from – where does it originate from?

Before digital film making, films were recorded on film – like physical reels of film. After recording, the editor had to cut the film. Nowadays we do it on computers, but back in the days, it was done physically: the editor had to go through kilometres of film and cut it at certain points. After cutting, he had to glue the film together.

Now, in silent films in the 1920s, very often there used to be a romantic storyline that climaxed in a chase sequence. A chase sequence: scenes with running, driving, jumping and fighting. And, of course, everybody was waiting for this end scene: the chase.

Why? Because the chase was the most exciting part of the film: the climax.

So, from the 1920s until the 40s “cut to the chase” meant cut the film at the chase. From around the 1940s, however, the phrase got another meaning: an idiomatic (or figurative) meaning.

“Cut to the chase” now means: you’ve been talking too long, and you should come to the point – you should tell me what is important.

When a person uses this idiom, they’re telling you to hurry up and get to the important part, without all the little details. Just like in the case of old films: people wanted to get to the end scene – “the chase” -, and they weren’t so interested in the build-up.

However, be careful when to use this idiom: you shouldn’t say it to your boss or to your teacher or even to your parents! It would be rude. But, you can use it among good friends, like: “Come on, Josh! Don’t waste our time; just cut to the chase, man!”

Or, when you talk to people, you can say, “We don’t have much time, so I’ll just cut to the chase.” Meaning: you won’t tell them every detail but skip to the important parts.

Here are some examples before we go to the concept questions:

1. “Okay, class, we’ve got a lot to do today, so I’ll just cut to the chase.” (I’ll just start with the important information.)

2. I hated the endless talks of our teachers’ in school. I think a teacher should know when and how to cut to the chase. Otherwise, their pupils will get bored quickly.

3. I was watching a lecture online the other day. The presenter didn’t waste the audience’s time: she cut to the chase at the very beginning of the presentation.

Great.

Let’s look at some situations and check your understanding. Ready? Here we go.

1. One evening, my daughter broke a set of glasses. Not just one glass, you know, but a whole set of glasses – like, 6 glasses. When I asked her what had happened, she began to tell me about her younger sister and the dog lying on the floor, yadda, yadda, yadda. Did my daughter cut to the chase?

No. She didn’t. She was just giving excuses.

2. One morning my biology teacher came into the classroom, and said, “Take a sheet of paper, everybody, you’re writing a test.” Did my teacher cut to the chase?

Yes. There was no intro, no ‘hi, everyone’, nothing. She cut to the chase and said it was test time!

3. Imagine a husband who wants to surprise her wife with a diamond ring. Do you think he will cut to the chase right in the morning? “Good morning, hon. I’ve got a diamond ring for you.”

No. I think he will build up the situation. You know, he’ll take her to a theatre and then to a restaurant. Then, he can present his wife with the ring. That would be romantic.

4. Imagine, you’re at a business meeting where the partner is going on and on and on, and everyone is dead bored. Would you ask the partner to cut to the chase? “Excuse me. Could we ask you to cut to the chase? Please?”

No. That would be very rude. See, you shouldn’t use this idiom in a formal situation, or when you have to show respect. Of course, the partner should cut to the chase, but you shouldn’t say it to him/her.

5. Do you think it is true that politicians don’t really want to cut to the chase when they get a chance to talk?

Yes, that’s true, unfortunately. Politicians love public speaking. They rarely cut to the chase.

Great. I hope you enjoyed this video. Now go practice. See you soon.