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Gwpcyr Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary

cut across?

What does "cut across" mean in below sentence?

Opinion on this issue cuts across traditional political boundaries.
Can you give more examples?
  

Top answer

I think yours is a misuse, but it is a common one. You literally cut across the fields, you don't cut across a fence, so an issue doesn't figuratively cut across political boundaries, it cuts across the political parties. This is the meaning of the expression as I have encountered it in well-edited writing.

— Enoon

  • I think yours is a misuse, but it is a common one.
  • You literally cut across the fields, you don't cut across a fence, so an issue doesn't figuratively cut across political boundaries, it cuts across the political parties.
  • This is the meaning of the expression as I have encountered it in well-edited writing.
  • The dictionaries are inconsistent on this point.
  • " The second is from India Today , so consider the source.
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1 Answers
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I think yours is a misuse, but it is a common one. You literally cut across the fields, you don't cut across a fence, so an issue doesn't figuratively cut across political boundaries, it cuts across the political parties. This is the meaning of the expression as I have encountered it in well-edited writing. The dictionaries are inconsistent on this point. Collins, for instance, gives two ex
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