Either proceed with an activity or abandon it completely. For example, You've been putting off calling him for hours; either fish or cut bait. This expression, often uttered as an imperative, alludes to a fisherman who should either be actively trying to catch fish or cutting up bait for others to use. It was first recorded in the Congressional Record
(1876), when Congressman Joseph P. Cannon called for a vote on a bill legalizing the silver dollar: "I want you gentlemen on the other side of the House to 'fish or cut bait.'" A vulgar synonym from the
1940s is
shit or get off the pot.
Shit or get off the pot
| Idioms: fish or cut bait |
| Wikipedia: Shit or get off the pot |
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"Shit or get off the pot" is a common English language colloquial expression, used to imply a person should follow up their stated intentions, with action. It is also used to urge someone to complete a task with a greater degree of efficiency or timeliness than is observed at the time the expression is used.
Derivation
It may derive from the time before indoor plumbing when a chamber pot was used for defecation. The expression, in this way, is essentially instruction for someone to stop being indecisive or procrastinating, and act. Stuart Flexner, author of "I Hear America Talking", states that it is a vulgar rephrasing of the old New England expression "fish or cut bait"[1].
Famous Uses
- Richard Nixon reportedly used the phrase while berating Dwight Eisenhower to put Nixon on his presidential ticket.
Uses in popular culture
- In the 1994 film Clerks., Randal uses the phrase to tell his friend Dante to make a decision regarding his present situation.
- In the 1999 film "Detroit Rock City" a scalper uses the phrase to tell Hawk to earn the money he needs to buy a ticket from him.
- In the 1999 film The Bachelor, Jimmie uses the phrase when asking Anne to marry him.
- In the episode Local Ad of the US TV series The Office, Meredith uses the phrase "piss or get off the pot" to tell Jim to hurry up.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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 | bait (Idiom) |
| pot (Idiom) |
| The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (Private Company) |
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Copyrights:
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 | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Shit or get off the pot". Read more |
Mentioned in
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- pot (Idiom)
- The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (Private Company)
- cut (Idiom)
- fish
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- off (Idiom)
- Alexander M. Cutler (businessman)
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