Fish or cut bait

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:56 AM -0400 5/28/00, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
>I am not quite as old as the Civil War, but the idea that the "cut bait" in
>the "fish or cut bait" saying had anything to do with cutting one's line
>never occurred to me. You either were active (fishing) or you were just
>sitting around preparing (cutting bait); the implication in our use of it
>(Lousivlle area, 1940's onward) was the same as our more inelegant
>suggestion to those who did not get one with it - "shit or get off the pot."
>
>Our secondary use, which I associate with older people, was that it was a
>command given to those who were doing nothing, i.e., making no contribution
>and that your should either "fish or cut bait." I supect that of being the
>original (as the 1961 quote below would suyggest).
>
>dInIs
>
Interesting.  I'd have guessed the opposite (viz., cut bait = release your
bait into the water and quit fishing), precisely because of that very
parallel with the expression 'shit or get off the pot', which doesn't allow
for the option of sitting around doing nothing.  But then I have more
experience with toilets than fishing holes.

larry