Cut one's name

[Victor Steinbok]

I've seen the more transparent "chiseled [one's] name [into history]" or
similar. This doesn't strike me as being particularly odd (or a mixed
metaphor).

     VS-)

On 6/20/2012 11:27 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> I don't think it's a (mixed metaphor? blend?).  Rather, "to inscribe
> permanently or deeply, as on a monument or honor roll."
>
> It tales a while to search "cut, v."in the OED.  Some possible
> ancestral relatives:
>
> 16.b. To come across, strike, hit upon (a path, etc.). esp. U.S. with trail.
>
> VI. To shape, fashion, form, or make by cutting.
>    23.a. To make or form by cutting (e.g. a statue, engraving, seal,
> jewel, etc.), to sculpture or carve (a statue or image), to engrave
> (a plate, seal, etc.), to fashion (a stone or jewel), to shape
> (garments, utensils, etc.).
>
> Or perhaps another ancestral relative?
>
> 25. To perform or execute (an action, gesture, or display of a
> grotesque, striking, or notable kind): chiefly in certain established
> phrases, as to cut a caper [etc.].
>
> Joel
>
> At 6/20/2012 08:32 AM, Stephen Goranson wrote:
>> Cut one's teeth plus made one's name?
>>
>> Stephen
>> ________________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
>> Dave Wilton [dave at WILTON.NET]
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 7:54 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: [ADS-L] Cut one's name
>>
>> Saw an odd phrase this morning on OUP's blog, which I guess makes it British
>> but probably still of interest to the list. "Cut one's name" meaning "built
>> one's reputation." I've never seen, or at least noticed, this construction
>> before. A quick Google search turns up nothing but literal references to
>> carving one's name in trees or other objects. (Although other examples may
>> be buried in there somewhere.)
>>
>> "This is the context in which Alan Turing cut his name as a cryptographer
>> during the Second World War."
>>
>> http://blog.oup.com/2012/06/alan-turing-cryptographic-legacy/
>>
>> --Dave Wilton
>>    dave at wilton.net

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