Way With Words: Cut and Run

Tommy isn’t really interested in staying at the party much longer than he has to, so it’s common for him to stand up and jet out the door.

As he beats a hasty retreat he shouts “Sorry to cut and run!”

But Tommy didn’t cut anything as he ran out the door, so why would he say that?

Turns out, ‘cut and run’ is a popular nautical phrase referring to one of two things.

One is that ships planning on making a swift exit would cut across waves rather than sail them, and the other is that instead of taking the time to haul the anchor aboard, they would just cut the rope and get out of dodge.

The latter has a more glamorous visualization to it’s explanation, it is easy to imagine a merchant ship cutting anchors so they can put some distance between themselves and the looming threat of pirates.

Phrases.uk.org has the earliest literary version, “the 1704 Boston News Letter: ‘Cap. Vaughn rode by said Ship, but cut & run.’”.

Next time Tommy runs out, visualize him being chased by pirates.