What does ‘cut corners’ mean?
To “cut corners” means to do something quickly and cheaply, at the cost of quality. A 19th-century idiom drawn from the practice of taking a short route by cutting a corner; the pejorative sense followed.
Origin
- A 19th-century idiom drawn from the practice of taking a short route by cutting a corner; the pejorative sense followed.
How to use it
- Common critique of shoddy work.
- Example: They cut corners on materials and now the roof leaks.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.