Cut to the chase is an idiom that means “get to the point quickly.” There’s no definitive evidence for where the phrase comes from, but the generally accepted view is that it is from the early days of Hollywood, where it would indicate a script direction to cut to a chase scene.
It carries with it the idea of getting to the important part of a discussion and of removing any dishonesty or obfuscation.
Examples: Cut to the chase
The CEO looked around the conference table and asked, “Let’s cut to the chase. What are our losses?”
There was no point in wasting time with excuses, so Jen cut to the chase and told her boss what had happened.
Sometimes it’s nice to flesh out a story with details, but sometimes you just need to cut to the chase.
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Using cut to the chase
Cut to the chase is an informal idiom, and it can easily be seen as rude or overly direct—perhaps not surprising as it means to be direct and not to worry about niceties.
Cut to the chase includes a sense of “be honest,” related not to outright dishonesty but to an attempt to sugarcoat the truth or obscure how bad a situation is. It isn’t always negative and can be used just to encourage swift and purposeful communication.
Examples: Cut to the chase
The idea of an “elevator pitch” is that you only get the time you would spend in an elevator to make your pitch, so you have to cut to the chase.
After what seemed like hours of negotiation, the employer’s side decided it was time to cut to the chase and make their final offer.
Sometimes, it seems that people justify rudeness by saying they just like to cut to the chase, but really, they’re just rude.
The origin of cut to the chase
Most people seem to think that the origin of cut to the chase is the early days of Hollywood moviemaking. A chase of some sort was the most exciting part of the film, especially in the days of silent movies, so cutting to the chase was to get to the important part.
It certainly appears in a 1929 novel as a screenplay instruction, but the current meaning of getting to the point doesn’t appear to have become common or popular until the 1960s.
Cut to the chase antonym
Another idiom means the opposite of cut to the chase: “beat around the bush” (or, in British English, “beat about the bush”). So you might tell someone, “Don’t beat around the bush, just cut to the chase!”
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