Select the most appropriate meaning of the given idiom. Cut corners

Correct — A. Cut corners is an idiom, so its meaning is fixed by usage and cannot be built out of cut plus corners.

The dictionary sense is to do something in the easiest, cheapest or quickest way, by leaving out steps that ought to have been taken.

That is what option (a) says: done in an inexpensive and easy way. The phrase is a criticism — the saving is bought with quality.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Complete a work — Cut corners says how a job is done, not that it is finished. You can cut corners on a job and still abandon it halfway, so completing a work is not the meaning.
• (c)
  Clear a space — This reads the phrase literally, as trimming the corners off something to make room. Idioms do not work word by word, which is exactly what the item is testing.
• (d)
  Find a suitable place — Nothing in the idiom is about place. Corner here is figurative — a bit of the route skipped — not a spot you go looking for.

An idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning is not the sum of its words. That is why SSC can offer four grammatical, sensible glosses and only one of them be right.

Cut corners belongs to the family of phrases about doing a job badly to save effort or money. It usually takes what was sacrificed after on: the builder cut corners on the wiring.

The tone is disapproving. If a sentence praises someone, cut corners is the wrong phrase for it.

Key facts

• Cut corners means to do something in the cheapest or easiest way, leaving out steps that should have been taken.
• The phrase is disapproving: it implies the result is worse for the shortcut.
• What was skimped on is named after on, as in cut corners on safety.

Common traps

• Taking easy in option (a) as praise, when the idiom is a complaint
• Choosing the option about finishing, because a shortcut does get work done faster
• Translating corners literally into space or place

No directly related past PYQ was found.