cut ice

present singular third person cuts ice · participle present cutting ice

1. usuallyoften in the negativeTo have influence (on something, especially someone's opinion); to be accepted or tolerated (by).

   Will that cut any ice with Moscow? No, they won't care.

   5 more examples

   It cuts no ice with a British copper to tell him you're an American citizen. 'It's British law and order over here,' says he.

   1917, Arthur Conan Doyle, “His Last Bow”, in His Last Bow

   Fowler, And let me say to you, honourable gentlemen, that, so far as I am concerned, the fact that a Bill was passed by the House of Commons does not, as is said vulgarly, cut any ice with me, because I have seen some of the rottenest legislation passed by the House of Commons. I say, it does not cut any ice with me, and it should not influence you, honourable gentlemen.

   1921, Canada. Parliament. Senate, Debates of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada: Official Report, page 787

   It's a feeling of impotence: of cutting no ice. Here I sit at Richmond, & like a lantern stood in the middle of a field my light goes up in darkness.

   1920, Virginia Woolf, edited by Anne Olivier Bell, The Diary of Virginia Woolf, published 1984, page 72

   But those who contend that 4hr from Newcastle to London is fast enough, and that a reduction of 5-10min will cut little ice but cost a lot, are being harder put to it to justify their case in face of the air rivalry and arguments that these days any travel medium must present an image of continuous advance.

   1964 September, G. Freeman Allen, “Interim report on the East Coast Route express service”, in Modern Railways, page 161

   Intriguing though such an argument may be to economists, it is unlikely to cut much ice with politicians.

   1993, The Economist