What it means
Means doing a job the cheap, rushed, half-arsed way by skipping proper steps, using poor materials, or doing just enough so it looks fine for a minute. People say it when someone's saved time, effort, or money in a way that usually comes back to bite later.
Usage examples
"The landlord cut corners on the bathroom refurb, now the tiles are coming off and the shower leaks, but he reckons it’s sorted."
"The builder cut corners on the wiring to finish faster, and now half the sockets in the house do not work."
"You cannot cut corners on a wedding cake, skip the chilling step and the whole thing slides off the stand."
"They cut corners on the flat conversion, slapped some paint over the damp and called it luxury."
"You can cut corners with party decorations if you want, but don't do it with the brakes, mate."
Where it comes from
It comes from the literal idea of taking a corner by the shortest route instead of following the full track or path. By the 19th century, English had stretched it into everyday use for skipping parts of a job to save time or effort, usually with dodgy results.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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