What it means
Means stop circling the airport and land the plane. You say it when someone’s padding the story with side quests and you just want the bit that actually matters. It’s a classic nudge for skipping the waffle and getting straight to the point.
Usage examples
"Dave spent ten minutes on the history of the project, so I said, cut to the chase, mate. Are we getting paid Friday or not?"
"Let's cut to the chase, are you in or out for the weekend trip?"
"Bro, cut to the chase, did she text you back or are we holding a funeral for your ego?"
"Right, cut to the chase then. Are they fixing the rent or are we moving out?"
"Mate, cut to the chase. Did they approve the leave or are we still drowning in manager waffle?"
Voice comments
No one has left their voice yet. Break the ice.
Where it comes from
It comes from film editing. In old movies, especially when chase scenes were the flashy bit audiences came for, people would say to cut straight to that part. From there it hopped out of cinema talk and into everyday English as a way of saying skip the padding and get to what actually matters.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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