Tagliare la corda

Common Italian expression

Pronunciation
Literal translationTo cut the rope
English translationTo sneak away quickly
MeaningTo leave quickly or to run away

Examples

Non appena ha rotto il vaso, Marco ha tagliato la corda.As soon as he broke the pot, Marco snuck away.
Abbiamo tagliato la corda prima che arrivasse la polizia.We ran away before the police arrived.

Where does this idiom come from?

Ships are tied to the dock with ropes. When you cut the rope, you’ll sail away. This is why the act of cutting a rope is used in Italian to mean “to run away”.


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