Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] Fish or cut baitMeaning Either continue in a productive manner or desist entirely. Similar in meaning to 'put up or shut up', or the US vulgarism 'shit or get off the pot'. Origin This phrase is of US origin. To cut bait means to stop fishing. It appears to have been introduced to the public consciousness, and may well have been coined by, US Judge Levi Hubbell. It came up in 1853, in a legal dispute over land ownership between US Attorney General Caleb Cushing and a William Hungerford. Cushing was displeased with Hubbell's conduct of the case an threatened to have him impeached. Hubbell's response was:
The reason for believing that Hubbell coined the phrase comes from the response of the journalists who reported the case. Many of them, along with the lawyers in court, had clearly not heard the phrase before and were at a loss to understand what the judge meant. For example:
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