cutting a check

[vealmakers]

why do they call it "cutting" a check?

[factor-fiction]

Never heard the expression 'cutting the check'- nor 'cutting the cheque' if that's what you meant

[fredpuli47]

It means to issue a cheque (or check) e.g 'To cut a check for $10,000' .It is American and not known in British English. Whilst some people think its origin is in the American military because the commander might 'cut an order' it seems likely that its origin is simply in the process of 'printing' a cheque by the use of a stencil, mimeograph machine or similar reproduction.This process involved the cutting of the lettering (as in 'to cut a stencil'). A company issuing lots of checks would have the blank check forms printed, using this primitive equipment, with the company's name as payer and perhaps other details ( payee's name, space for dollars etc ). So it would 'cut a check'. To 'cut an order' in the military, likewise involved, printing, running off copies for signature.

By analogy we say 'to cut a record' (music) because the machinery originaly involved cutting a groove, even though now we use purely electronic methods.

[factor-fiction]

Good response fredpuli47.
I wonder what the origin is of the expression "cut a rug" , meaning dancing

[fredpuli47]

Cut a rug? I've always assumed that dancing vigorously on a floor with a rug on it would literally cut the rug. So you'd be 'cutting a rug' if you were dancing.However , according to the Oxford Dictionary, 'to cut' once meant "to execute a dance movement by springing from the ground and twiddling the feet in front of one another alternately" (!) and " to execute or perform an action, gesture or display, especially a surprising one" and the expression " to cut a caper" used to mean, simply " to dance". So it could be that the expression once was 'cut on a rug' not 'cut a rug' .