Idiom
cut someone some slack
Meaning
To make allowances for someone, and not treat a failure severely.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Please cut me some slack, I am very tired today.”
“The boss decided to cut the new employee some slack because he was still learning the software.”
“Given the unprecedented challenges the team faced during the project, the manager chose to cut them some slack regarding the missed deadline.”
Examples
simple
“Please cut me some slack, I am very tired today.”
contextual
“The boss decided to cut the new employee some slack because he was still learning the software.”
complex
“Given the unprecedented challenges the team faced during the project, the manager chose to cut them some slack regarding the missed deadline.”
Origin
From the literal slack (looseness) in a rope, as when docking a ship or loosening a line; loosening the rope eases the strain.
Key words
Related idioms
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated