cut, v.³ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

cut v.³

[on model of SE cut a figure/caper/dash etc]

to pose as, to act in the manner of.

1688		implied in cut a sham under sham n.¹
1709		N. Ward A Compleat and Humorous Account of all the Remarkable Clubs (1756) 261: As if he had been bred up from his Cradle to cut, sham, and wheedle.
1764		Bloody Register III 170: The next exploit Jenny went upon was, Slanging the gentry mort rumly with a sham Kinchin (that is, cutting well the woman big with child).
c.1800		‘The Blue Lion’ in Holloway & Black I (1975) 32: He cuts a swell, and rings the bell.
1821		Hereford Jrnl 3 Oct. 4/3: The whole was an attempt at cutting a swell by the ‘High Life below stairs’.
1828		G. Smeeton Doings in London 41: The three bucks [...] are probably clerks or apprentices, released from desk or counter, to act the gentleman, to cut a swell for a few hours.
1834		Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (N.Y.) 21 June 4/1: His wearing green spectacles [...] does not arise from ostentation, or a desire to cut a buck [i.e. play the dandy].
1845		W.T. Porter Big Bear of Arkansas (1847) 129: ‘Hurrah’ [...] says Jem, takin’ a drink and cuttin’ a few pigeon wings with his left leg.
1846		Durivage & Burnham Stray Subjects (1848) 107: I took her out to Harlem – / On the road we cut a swell.
c.1865		‘Kate’s Medley’ in Fred Shaw’s Champion Comic Melodist 65: I went to the Gaieties, / To see Pell cut his funny tricks [...] All cutting, cut, cut, cutting, / We’re all cutting our way through the world, / Some are cutting to get rich, others cut in vain.
1872		‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It 325: What would the boys say if they could see us cutting a swell like this in New York?
1912		R.W. Brown ‘Word-List From Western Indiana’ in DN III:viii 547: cut a pigeon wing, v. phr. To dance with graceful sweeps.
1927		C. Woofter ‘Dialect Words and Phrases from West-Central West Virginia’ in AS II:8 352: He was not able to cut the buck that time.
1937		Z.N. Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God (1998) 141: Always singin’ ol’ nigger songs! Always cuttin’ de monkey for white folks.
1942		Z.N. Hurston Dust Tracks On a Road (1995) 937: People have been telling me to clap hands, crack jokes, and generally cut Big Jim by the acre.
1945		Botkin Lay My Burden Down 121: I was plenty biggity and liked to cut a step.
1962		(con. WWII) J.O. Killens And Then We Heard The Thunder (1964) 123: You gon show me pass, boy, or you gon cut the goddamn fool?

In phrases

cut... (v.)

see also under relevant n.

cut a bosh (v.) [ety. unknown; ? Fr. ébauche, outline, a rough-hewn figure]

(UK Und.) to cut a figure.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: To cut a bosh, or a flash; to make a figure.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

cut a caper (upon nothing) (v.)

to be hanged.

1676		Etherege Man of Mode V ii: No one woman is worth the loss of a cut in a caper.
1696		Motteux (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) II Bk IV 299: That very hour, from an exalted triple tree, two of the honestest gentlemen in Catchpole-land had been made to cut a caper on nothing.
1764		K. O’Hara Midas II i: Soon mounted in the air, if / You chance to see the cudden / A caper cut before the sheriff.

cut a dido (v.)

see cut up a dido v.

cut a rusty (v.) [SE rustic, a peasant]

(US) to show off, to behave in a silly, unsophisticated manner; to have a tantrum.

1838		J.C. Neal Charcoal Sketches (1865) 111: It won’t do for us to be cutting rusties here at this time o’ night.
1911		H. Shearin ‘An Eastern Kentucky Dialect Word-List’ in DN III vii 539: rusty, n. A prank or caper; used chiefly in the phrase ‘cut a rusty,’ meaning play a prank.
1920–23		in J.M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas (1963) I 333: ‘Cutting a rusty’ means doing your best.
1936		R.F. Adams Cowboy Lingo 206: To do one’s best was to ‘cut a rusty’. [Ibid.] 217: When a cowboy ‘went a-wooing’ he was said to be [...] ‘cuttin’ a rusty.’.
1936		K.M. Morehouse Rain on the Just 113: Still if Mammy should cut a rusty over the missing shirt-sleeve [etc.].
1940		Writer’s Program God Bless the Devil! 89: Woody’d cut a rusty was he to hear you talk like that!
1954		Indep. Record (Helena, MT) 9 Oct. 3/7: If you’ve done something smart, you’ve just ‘cut a rusty’.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1965		D.G. Moore 20th Century Cowboy 29: Well, cowboy, you shure did cut a rusty caper this time, didn’t you?
1977		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 2: cut a rusty – to have a tantrum.
1998		G.H. Rubio Icy Sparks 208: ‘Ain’t no one able to cut a rusty like you!’ ‘If you mean I’m about to take a fit,’ I snorted, ‘well, you ain't wrong!’.
2005		R.J. Bailey Lorena 139: Cut a rusty now and then when a strange varmint comes around, but other than that they be doin jes fine.

cut a swat (v.) [SE cut a swathe]

(US campus) to make an impression.

1896

W.C. Gore Student Sl. in Cohen (1997) 8: swat, to cut a From swath. To make a sensation by personal appearance or by some remarkable performance; to cut a dash.

cut caper-sauce (v.) [SE cut a caper, to dance]

to be hanged.

1864, 1867, 1870

Hotten Sl. Dict. 93: ‘To cut caper-sauce,’ i.e., to dance upon nothing ? be hanged, very coarse.

cut cheese (v.)

(US campus) to impress, to influence, to make a difference.

1896

W.C. Gore Student Sl. in Cohen (1997) 17: cut no cheese To have no weight or value. Used with reference to idea or argument.

cut dicks (v.) [SE dignity]

(W.I.) to affect an English accent in the hope of impressing people.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

cut dido(e)s/dingdoes (v.)

see cut up a dido v.

cut Grecian (v.)

(W.I.) of a woman, to walk in a self-consciously ‘stylish’ manner, either arrogantly or proudly.

1943

cited in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).

cut it (v.)

see separate entry .

cut (old) style (v.)

(W.I.) to behave in an exhibitionist manner to attract attention.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

cut rough (v.)

see cut up rough v.

cut round (v.)

(US) to show off, to make a display.

1837

A. Greene Glance at N.Y. II v: Some one told me that Bill Sykes was cuttin’ round you.

cut the buck (v.) [dial. cut the buck, to dance vigorously; ult. f. buck and wing]

(US) to work hard.

1920		H. Wiley Wildcat 58: Us boys is goin’ to have a meetin’ every night, – shows an’ cuttin’ de buck an’ night school an’ a general ruckus!
1927		E.C.L. Adams Congaree Sketches 52: Dey come to de road jumpin’ to de drum and steppin’ as high as a man’s head [...] You ought er seen some of dem niggers cut de buck and de buzzard lope.
1953		L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 292: I’ll cut the buck.

cut v.3

In phrases

cut v.³