Fish or cut bait
Fish or cut bait is an expression a lot of folks use. I use it. The "cut bait" part typically can mean two different things: cut up bait for fishing (prepare to fish), or cut your fishing line and quit (give up). Thinking on it a bit more now, It all could have a 3rd meaning if both "fish" and "cut bait" are nouns and not verbs, but I don't think anyone uses the expression that way.
Which way do you mean it when you use the expression?
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Kinda like, "Chit or get off the pot."
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+1 ^
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What those two said.
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Your first choice. To cut fish to use as bait.
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Toolman286: 30466770902811/comments/30466740284059
Kinda like, "Chit or get off the pot."
So, option.... #2.
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My Grandpa used to say that.....He once told me it meant there are always things to do. Do something to make progress in all the things that needed to be done...
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Do it or get out of the way
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select-fire: 30466770902811/comments/30466740907419
Do it or get out of the way
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At least that is how I have used it. If I am wrong I will quit using it and cut bait i.e. get out of the way of more knowledgeable folk. Bob
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My old recollections are:
"Lead......follow......or get out of the way"
I want to quote John Wayne........but not sure.
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We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
-General George S. Patton
Patton Quote: Lead, Follow, or Get Out of My Way | The History Guy: War and Conflicts News
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I agreed with the Toolman, but if I had to just say my usage/meaning it is to make a decision , ala @62vld2042 , @select-fire, @William81 etc.
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@...: https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/1907700/fish-or-cut-bait
Fish or cut bait is an expression a lot of folks use. I use it. The "cut bait" part typically can mean two different things: cut up bait for fishing (prepare to fish), or cut your fishing line and quit (give up). Thinking on it a bit more now, It all could have a 3rd meaning if both "fish" and "cut bait" are nouns and not verbs, but I don't think anyone uses the expression that way.
Which way do you mean it when you use the expression?
I don't know what it means, except for one meaning which was when I worked on fishing boats I cut a lot of bait for the fish.
That is one of the reasons I have no appetite for sushi.
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No free rides. Choice was to fish or cut bait, no sitting in the boat doing nothing. Metaphorically speaking.
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This sort of made no sense to me since English wasn't my first language.
I come from cutting bait to fish. So when one says "fish or cut bait" that's either fish or cut bait (to use to fish with) so two tasks. Like in long line fishing. One guy cuts bait and another guy hook the cut bait to fish. Now cutting bait meant cut the line to quit that makes no sense. Like Spotted Dick. No one wants that.
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I have used a few old expressions involving fish but never used "fish or cut bait."
This got me fishing the internet 🙄 to find several old sayings that relate to this subject.
1. to drink like a fish: to drink to excess.
2. to feed the fishes: to die by drowning.
3. to feel like a fish out of water: to feel out of one’s comfort zone.
4. to fish for compliments: do or say things to elicit praise from others.
5. to sound fishy: to seem dubious or suspicious.
6. All is fish that comes to his net: He makes use of everything that comes his way.
7. Fish or cut bait!: Make a decision one way or another.
8. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime: a proverb meaning that it’s more useful to a person to teach him how to do something for himself than to give him a hand-out.
9. There are plenty of other fish in the sea: a comforting remark made to someone who has broken up with a sweetheart.
10. a pretty kettle of fish: an awkward situation or state of things.
11. big fish in a small pond: someone important in a small community
12. cold fish: an unemotional person
13. Fisher King: in Grail legend, the Fisher King is the uncle of Sir Perceval. He suffers a grievous wound that cannot heal until he is asked the right question.
14. Fisherman’s ring: a seal ring presented to a pope upon taking office. The ring is used to seal official documents; when the pope dies, the ring is broken. The apostle Peter, who was a fisherman, is regarded by the Catholic Church as having been the first pope.
15. fishing expedition: an attempt to elicit information by asking random questions.
16. fishwife: literally, a woman who sells fish; figuratively, a loud vulgar woman who shouts abuse
17. queer fish: an eccentric person
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As Yosh said, I think it comes from commercial fishing. Pick a job and do it - there's no idling.
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All this brought back a very old memory..........from when I was about 10.
Outside of Anadarko, in approx 1959.........making barrows out of boars was a three person operation.
There's the cutter, the catcher, and the knife sharpener.
My oldest uncle was the sharpener........my younger uncle/more like my brother(my favorite, but gone way too soon due to a cotton stripper accident) was the cutter...........leaving yours truly as the........well.....you know.
I was never so filthy. They actually had to hose me down, on a concrete slab next to the farrow house..........before granny would let them bring me back to town.
Ya know.......it seems that I never got old enough, wise enough, or sneaky enough to be the knife sharpener.
I very much miss those days......sigh.
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A better way of saying it is, either sink or swim.
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62vld2042: 30466770902811/comments/30466788960539
All this brought back a very old memory..........from when I was about 10.
Outside of Anadarko, in approx 1959.........making barrows out of boars was a three person operation.
There's the cutter, the catcher, and the knife sharpener.
My oldest uncle was the sharpener........my younger uncle/more like my brother(my favorite, but gone way too soon due to a cotton stripper accident) was the cutter...........leaving yours truly as the........well.....you know.
I was never so filthy. They actually had to hose me down, on a concrete slab next to the farrow house..........before granny would let them bring me back to town.
Ya know.......it seems that I never got old enough, wise enough, or sneaky enough to be the knife sharpener.
I very much miss those days......sigh.
I worked on a pig farm while I was attending a boarding school...................nasty job. I loved trying to ride the 250 pounders. It was also interesting to do tusks, tails, and testicles................pigs eat everything.
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Fish or cut bait - Wikipedia
Fish or cut bait is a common English language colloquial expression, dating back to the 19th-century United States, that refers to division of complementary tasks. The use of this expression has expanded over time, sometimes including the ideas of swift decision-making (to act or not to act), and cautions against procrastination and/or indecisiveness.Use and interpretation
The expression explores the merits of two options: "Fish", which refers to the act of fishing; or "cut bait", which refers to cutting up pieces of bait into small, usable portions. A more modern, alternative interpretation of "cut bait" is understood to mean cutting one's fishing line. The meaning of the expression can vary, depending on which interpretation of "cut bait" is intended.
The original version of the expression derives from the fishing industry, in which fishermen must literally decide who is to fish, and who is to cut the bait used for fishing. Both the task of fishing, and that of cutting the bait, were considered equally important to the goal of catching fish.
Failure to contribute is not one of the offered alternatives, although "go ashore" and "go overboard" are sometimes offered as clarifying alternatives.
Writer Jan Freeman in the Boston Globe summarizes with the characterization that, "It's sort of a maritime version of 'Lead, follow, or get out of the way'".[2]
She followed up the following day with an expansion of her analysis of this phrase, including quotes from Literary Digest from 1899: [3] "The thousands of Cuban soldiers yet in idleness will have to go to work when they find that it is imperative that they either cut bait or fish" and from School and Home, 1895, "The Eskimo is industrious, because nature compels him to 'fish, cut bait, or get out of the boat.'"
These usages exemplify the "do something useful" interpretation of the phrase.
Another interpretation is that it means you have to make a decision. You either have a fish, or you cut it up into bait to catch more fish. This means to make a decision. Take what you have (a fish) or lose it and decide to use it to get more.
Depending on the context, the expression can be intended as a form of advice or constructive criticism. It can also be interpreted as a threat, an invitation to act on a threat, or an accusation.
One of the earliest notable examples of the expression that gained public attention was a court case in 1853 involving land disputes, in which US Attorney General Caleb Cushing was displeased with Judge Levie Hubbell's conduct in the case. Cushing threatened to have the Judge impeached. Hubbell's response to the threat was, "...Cushing has commenced a suit in the United States Court...[he] must either fish or cut bait."
Hubbell's use of the expression implied that Cushing should either act on his threat of impeachment (fish), or, if unwilling, withdraw the threat and proceed with the case (cut bait). In this example, the expression is similar in intent to another common colloquialism: put up or shut up.[1]
The expression occurs twice in the 1990 comedy film Three Men and a Little Lady, referring to the point in a romantic relationship when the couple must consider marriage, or splitting up. Part of the humor is that the expression is never explained, and the fishing imagery is totally incongruent with the idea of marriage.
The changing meaning of "cut bait"
The more modern variation on the meaning of the expression ("giving up" on something, or "stepping down") is due largely to the changing interpretation of "cut bait". Originally, "cut bait" referred to cutting up bait fish into small portions suitable for a hook or net. In more modern times, bait is often prepackaged, and cutting bait is uncommon outside of the commercial fishing industry. Therefore, the meaning of "cut bait" is sometimes taken to mean cutting one's fishing line, and giving up on the fishing. As a result, the meaning of the expression has changed over time to imply "act now or stand down". This variation is now so common that it widely appears as the first entry in dictionaries and other reference materials. On the other hand, it has been used to illustrate two necessary and related tasks that cannot be done at the same time. Literally, a lone fisherman has to do both, but can only do one at a time. The act of fishing exhausts the stockpile of bait that has been prepared. In other words, the balance between work and maintenance.
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Bwood you left out fish monger
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You are either the guy who fishes or the guy who cuts bait.
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