Meaning of Idiom ‘Fish or Cut Bait’
1. Either do something useful or get out of the way. 2Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
2. Either proceed with an activity or abandon it completely; stop being indecisive. 3Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
3. Either do what you say you are going to do or make yourself useful in some other task or activity. 4Collins Cobuild. Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary. HarperCollins, 2012.
Usage Notes
The precise meaning of this idiom is difficult to pin down. It is most often used, today, to mean stop being indecisive and do what you set out to do, or abandon it completely. However, since cutting bait is a useful thing that a fisherman might do instead of fishing, many use meaning three, above.
Sentence Examples
“If you aren’t going to paint then find something else to do. The sprayer needs to be cleaned out. Fish or cut bait!”
“The time for well-wishing is done. The safety of our kids is at stake. The government needs to fish or cut bait.”
“Oh, Jack. Don’t be a horse’s ass. Either fish or cut the bait, hmm? Don’t be pining away over a girl like some chump.” — Glory Daze (1996)
“Guys, we got a man wading into deep water out there, so we got to fish or cut bait, but we got to decide now.” — Burn Notice: Mixed Messages (2012)
Origin
Used since at least the mid-1800s.
According to Steven D. Pirce in Endangered Phrases, the original expression was ‘fish or cut bait or go ashore’ meaning that, if you weren’t catching fish, you should find something useful to do, whether it is cutting bait fish into small pieces or going ashore to find some other useful occupation, otherwise, you were just in the way and risked losing your job as a fisherman. This supports meaning three, above, as the full and proper meaning of the idiom, but most use it in the first two senses, today, making this idiom similar to the more vulgar variant, ‘shit or get off the pot,’ which is more often heard today.
