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Wu Ting
what does "cut the buck"here mean? Lucile laid her hat on the counter. There were tears in her eyes. ‘You know I always said this: If a child is kept clean and well cared for and pretty then that child will usually be sweet and smart. But if a child’s dirty and ugly then you can’t expect anything much. What I’m trying to get at is that Baby is so shamed over losing her hair and that bandage on her head that it just seems like it makes her cut the buck all the time. She won’t practice her eloc
Sep 4, 2017 12:16 PM
Answers · 2
That is not a common expression. I've never heard it before. But from the paragraph it's clear that by saying "cut the buck" she means the child is being lazy and not caring about her studies. "She is slacking off" would be the more usual phrase. Lucille is saying that the child doesn't care about herself because her parents don't care about her. She's saying if the parents cared for her better then the child would also care more for herself.
September 4, 2017
I think this is an old term that no one uses anymore. I've never heard of this term and I suggest that you avoid reading very old articles or books when you're learning a new language.
September 4, 2017
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