saw off

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Tobias
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saw off

Post by Tobias »

Hi!

What does saw off mean in the following sentence?

"As with any discussion and negotiation, eventually we sawed off at roughly $40 million."

Thanks!
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MissLT
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Post by MissLT »

saw off
Part of Speech: v. phr.
Quotation:
Saw-off. To stop. Also to interupt, silence. “When we get this done, we’ll saw off for the day.” Noted in Tennessee but nowhere else. The expression likely is derived from the sense of completion that comes to sawyers when the cut drops from the log they are working on. Heard in the woods, among timber workers. “I sawed him off with an answer that he won’t forget for some time.” General. (copied)
jeffcox
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Post by jeffcox »

A saw is what you use to cut wood.
To saw a piece of wood means to make remove a piece by sawing it.

'Sawing off' $40 million means to reduce the amount by $40 million.

As wood is quite solid (haha) it's quite a dramatic movement... that's why they chose this word... $40 million is a dramatic reduction.
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