Home » Dictionary » cut the turf

cut the turf

cut the turf
 v. phr.— «Some of our targeted homeowners are suspicious. Some refuse to come to the door. Others hide behind twitched curtains until we leave. We are like political Jehovah’s Witnesses, but we are unrepentant. And, were we to falter, back at West Denver’s Obama HQ hand-painted signs urge us to keep up the canvassing—or “cutting the turf,” as they call it—to help save America.» —“Barack Obama’s campaign machine kicks into gear” by Tom Whipple Times (London, United Kingdom) Oct. 27, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

Take Tea for the Fever (episode #1508)

Silence comes in many forms. Writer Paul Goodman says there is, for example, the noisy silence of “resentment and self-recrimination,” and the helpful, participatory silence of actively listening to someone speak. • The strange story...

Mimeographs and Dittos (episode #1502)

How colors got their names, and a strange way to write. The terms blue and orange arrived in English via French, so why didn’t we also adapt the French for black and white? • Not every example of writing goes in one direction across the page...

Recent posts