I had forgotten the origin of cut and run. Now if only the OpEd headline writer knew “straights” from “straits.”
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
‘In dire straights, cut and run’
Editor — The phrase “cut and run” has appeared in The Chronicle — indeed, in all media — numerous times, usually in derogation of those who wish to depart from the ruinous American adventure in Iraq. But those who use the phrase with such fervor obviously don’t know what it means.
“Cut and run” originated in the days of sailing ships. It meant to get under way in an emergency by cutting the anchor chain and running before the wind. In the instance of square-rigged ships, it also meant to cut the lines holding the furled sails, whereupon the sails would unfurl of their own weight and the ship could sail at once.
“Cut and run” has nothing whatsoever to do with cowardice, surrender, or defeatism. It is, in fact, the intelligent thing to do when in dire straits. The captain who cuts and runs has a chance of saving his ship. The stubborn, rigid captain, who stands upon the bridge and defies the elements, will find his ship driven upon the rocks — and destroyed.
“Passage, immediate passage! The blood burns in my veins!
Away, O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!
Cut the hawsers — and haul out — shake out every sail!
Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?
Have we not groveled here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
Have we not darken’d and dazed ourselves with books long enough?”
— “Passage to India” by Walt Whitman.
PETER BROWNING
Lafayette
So let’s review. Cut and run means to be prepared, to be ready for action. The opposite is to refuse to adapt to changing circumstances, to willingly risk everything rather than change one’s mind.
