verbal phr. (general).—To show off; to make a display; to ‘come it strong’; ‘put on side,’ or CUT A DASH (q.v.).
1835. DICKENS, Sketches by Boz, p. 54. Gentlemen, in alarming waistcoats and steel watch-guards, promenading about, three abreast, with surprising dignity (or as the gentleman in the next box facetiously observes, ‘CUTTING IT UNCOMMON FAT!’).
1841. The Comic Almanack, ‘Christmas Fair.’
| A goose, even tailors have, who CUT IT FAT, | |
| And use the goose itself to get a flat. |
1887. BAUMANN, Londinismen, Slang und Cant, ‘A Slang Ditty,’ p. v.
| But, there, it don’t matter, | |
| Since to CUT IT STILL FATTER, | |
| By ’ook and by crook | |
| Ve’ve got up this book. |
