Cut to the Chase——單刀直入

** focus on what is most important（專注於最重要的事情）// go to the essential matter right away（立即着手解決重要問題）

~~ 單刀直入；開門見山；廢話少講；別兜圈子；不繞圈子；直入正題；直奔主題；說話直接；直接開始；直截了當。

~~ get/come [straight/right] to the point // get [right] to it // get down to business // don't beat about the bush // go straight to dessert // get down to brass tacks

!! The origin of the phrase came from the film industry of the 1920s, where it means to edit (“cut”) a film so as to get to the exciting car chase scene, an intrinsic part of many early movies.

（這個詞組的起源來自1920年代電影界，它的意思是剪輯一部電影，以便進入刺激的汽車追逐場景，這是許多早期電影的固有部分。）

It gradually became a general imperative, to mean abandoning the preliminaries and dealing with the major points right away.

（它逐漸成為普通的祈使語，意思是放棄準備工作，立即處理主要問題。）

>> A classmate who had never contacted me after graduating from high school just called me and, cutting to the chase, asked me to lend him MOP\$600,000 for what he had lost at the casino. Would you lend it to him?

（一位中學畢業後從沒聯繫的同學，剛致電給我，單刀直入問我借60萬元償還他在賭場輸的錢，你會借給他嗎？）

>> In writing or speaking, it is a common technique to cut to the chase in introducing the subject to attract attention of readers or listeners as early as possible.

（在寫作或演講中，為了盡早吸引讀者或聽眾的注意力，常以開門見山的方式破題，這是常見的技巧。）

學勤進修教育中心英語專科導師 李啟文　　教授