Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
This seems to be an extremely frequent version of “cut to the chase”. I wonder if it means people are bored with the chase and want to cut right through it to something more interesting? :-) Mischa
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This is a classic case of the original imagery of an expression being lost, so people apply a new image and coin a new expression. “Cut to the chase” originated, if I’m not mistaken, from movies. People didn’t want to wait for the plot exposition or development to take place, they wanted the director to cut immediately to the chase scene, i.e. to the action.
I think what is happening here is that people think of “cut through the [crap]” and then apply the same phrase to “chase.” The only stumblingblock for me as to its eggcornicity is I’m not sure what the new imagery is here. How could a person cut through a chase? Maybe they’re envisioning a car chase, and someone knows a short cut that “cuts through the chase” and gets them to their destination ahead of their opponent.
And you’re right, Mischa; “cut through the chase” is VERY common.
Let’s cut through the chase: Jesus didn’t exist. – SciForums.comLet’s cut through the chase: Jesus didn’t exist. Religion.
www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=51870 – 93k – Cached – Similar pages
lets cut through the chaseList of all pages for lets cut through the chase. if their are any excessively horny females out there that just cant seem to get enough.. well now there is …
www.scribd.com/doc/2051241/lets-cut-through-the-chase – 27k – Cached – Similar pages
Amazon.com: Shai Kane “shaidlady”’s review of Imitation in DeathWe know that if Eve Dallas really wants to cut through the chase and follow up on similar crimes in other locales, she can get her computer super guru …
www.amazon.com/review/R3S2KGWJQ1PNOS – 109k – Cached – Similar pages
Amazon.com: R. Kirkham “jrkirkham”’s review of The Gospel of Mary …Let’s be honest here and cut through the chase. In this age of rampant conspiracy theories and films that excite the imagination the idea of a secret …
www.amazon.com/review/R1KVTUU6XZ1OON?ASIN=0892819111 – 112k – Cached – Similar pages
More results from www.amazon.com »
Let’s cut through the chase, what’s your real reason for Blogging …I have heard so many stories about the purpose of blogging that I have no idea what to make of it. I am going to narrow the field only a little bit here.
www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=83900 – 46k – Cached – Similar pages
Last edited by JonW719 (2008-03-03 14:26:56)
Feeling quite combobulated.
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JonW719 wrote:
The only stumblingblock for me as to its eggcornicity is I’m not sure what the new imagery is here. How could a person cut through a chase?
Mightn’t it be the original film image? The film editor should remove a portion the chase scene (thus bisecting or “cutting through,” rather than excising or “cutting” it) to get back to the exposition.
Alternately, it may be a demi-eggcorn resulting, as JonW719 suggests, from a blend of “cut through the (clutter, etc.)” and “cut to the chase.”
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nilep wrote:
Alternately, it may be a demi-eggcorn resulting, as JonW719 suggests, from a blend of “cut through the (clutter, etc.)†and “cut to the chase.â€
I’ve heard this referred to as an idiom blend before. You can go onto the Language Log and see what else has been written about that category before.
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well, the chase scene has become sort of predictable and ubiquitous (tight corner, squealing wheels, little kids or baby carriage, fruit stand!), so maybe people still mean the same thing: Get past the predictable, formula stuff, and get to the part that matters—the end of the movie!
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what about “the chase” as the mythical hunt or search for the real kernel or goal. And these people don’t want to bother with that and just want the prize.
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“Idiom blend” sounds about right, and I agree with TootsNYC that the meaning is left unchanged. So I guess we should cut through the chase and decide that this is not an eggcorn? :-)
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