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What are the polite and neutral versions of “cut the bull*’?

English Language & Usage Asked on August 28, 2021

I was wondering what are the polite and neutral versions of cut the bullshit?

Suppose one calls his mobile customer service for signal problem, but the representative endlessly tries to promote irrelevant products.

I seem to remember there is some word other than bullshit to be used with cut, which is more neutral, but I cannot recall it.

8 Answers

Cut to the chase.

Cut (or get or return) to the point (neutral if preceded by "let's" or "we should" instead of "you").

Correct answer by Monica Cellio on August 28, 2021

Are you referring to

cut the crap

Answered by Sri Atluru on August 28, 2021

That's very interesting. Now, I was hoping you could help me with [repeat request].

Answered by Cerberus_Reinstate_Monica on August 28, 2021

Cut to the chase...

Let's try to focus on "x"...

Let's get to the heart of the matter...

Coming back to the point...

We're off topic, let's refocus...

Let's not fool around...

...and the 'not so polite and not very neutral' version from my years as a craps supervisor in a casino, "Cut the f-ing bullshit already, because if you try to pile it any deeper we're all going to f-ing drown."

Answered by Darwy on August 28, 2021

A slightly more polite and a lot less vulgar phrase is, let's get to it (the point).

Answered by RyeɃreḁd on August 28, 2021

Some useful expressions from American politics:

  1. No malarkey!

“Malarkey” is an old-fashioned Irish-American slang word meaning “bull*” (Urban Dictionary). I wouldn't recommend actually using this one.

  1. Straight talk

This is a common expression, and can be used as follows:

Hey, straight talk, what’s your opinion about “x”?


Another expression that’s worth mentioning is:

  1. Don’t beat around the bush.

For example,

Let’s not beat around the bush and address this issue directly.

Answered by hb20007 on August 28, 2021

From lexico: Let's get down to business. enter image description here

Answered by Anshan Today on August 28, 2021

"Can we stay on point?" "Can we stick to the matter at hand."

I had a professor who constantly would remind us to "Keep it terse, pithy and to the point." He could easily have added "breviloquent" to that list of words.

(Of course the humor was that he was being wordy in saying that we should be brief.)

Answered by Packard on August 28, 2021

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