Englishcut and dried
Meaning: Already settled; routine or clear-cut.
Example: “The case isn't as cut and dried as the police first thought.”
Origin: Traced to the language of herbalists: herbs already cut, dried, and packaged for sale in an apothecary's shop were finished, ready-made goods, in clear contrast to herbs still growing in the ground and not yet fit for use. The earliest documented use of the phrase, in a 1710 letter, applies it to a sermon described as "ready cut and dried" — prepared well in advance, and for exactly that reason lacking any spontaneity or freshness. Rival stories involving frontier jerky-making or seasoned timber are sometimes offered instead, but neither actually turns up in the historical record anywhere near the phrase's early use, leaving the herbalist's shop as the far better-supported source.
More English idioms
- deal someone in To include someone in something, especially a card game.
- diamond in the rough An unpolished or unsophisticated person that has potential.
- divide the spoils To give portions of the goods captured during a war to the winners of the war.
- do or die To make a final, all-out effort, whatever the risk.
- do someone a good turn To do someone a favor without having been asked and without expecting a favor in return.
- dot the i's and cross the t's To be very careful and attentive to detail.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
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- Pad kid poured curd pulled cod. Alternating repetition — the consonants swap at the start of every other word, which is w…
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