Cut us a break!

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On his "Literal-Minded" blog, Neal Whitman reports on a website put up by
Kutztown, Pa. high-schoolers accused of felonies called CutUsABreak.org:

http://literalmind.blogspot.com/2006/08/on-cutting-of-breaks.html

Neal calls "cut (s.o.) a break" an idiom blend, combining "cut (s.o.) some
slack" with "give (s.o.) a break". But shouldn't this simply be considered
a regional variant of the latter idiom? I note that early examples on
N-Archive come from Pennsylvania newspapers:

-----
Indiana Evening Gazette (Indiana, Pa.), Jan 22, 1972, p. 15/1
Debbie Steffey, we'll cut you a break this time!
-----
Bucks Co. Courier Times (Levittown, Pa.), Feb 19, 1974, p. 2/4
If you cut me a break you can have it.
-----
Bucks Co. Courier Times (Levittown, Pa.), Jan 4, 1976, p. D5/2
Come off it fellas. Cut us a break.
-----

Later cites come from PA, OH, MD, and NY (Syracuse).

Any further data on this? I don't see anything in HDAS.


--Ben Zimmer