To cut to the chase

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We don’t want to waste your time with a lengthy anecdote about this idiom.
Let’s cut to the chase…

We don’t want to waste your time with a lengthy anecdote about this idiom. Let’s cut to the chase…

Definition:

As defined in Linda and Roger Flavell’s book Dictionary of Idioms and Their Origins, “to cut to the chase” is an idiom that means to get straight to the point of something (page 71).

Use:

We don’t have all day… we’ve got bigger fish to fry. Let’s cut to the chase and get this meeting done in five minutes.

Origin:

The “chase” is the action packed, high-intensity part of a film. It is usually the face-paced part of the movie that everyone is waiting for.

This idiom originated in America in the 1920s as a director’s order to leave the slow-paced, early scenes of the movie and move on to the “chase” (page 71).