any way one slices it

English

WOTD – 30 October 2022

Alternative forms

• any way one cuts it

Etymology

Perhaps a reference to a food item such as a cake or a sausage looking the same on the inside no matter how it is sliced.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɛni‿weɪ wʌn ˈslaɪsɪz‿ɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɛni‿weɪ wʌn ˈslaɪsəz‿ət/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: any way one slic‧es it

Phrase

any way one slices it

1. (chiefly US, informal) From any perspective; in every case.

   Synonyms: however one slices it, no matter how one slices it, no matter how one looks at it, whichever way one slices it

   Any way you slice it, we have to get out of here and we have to take him with us.

   • 1998, Bill Pronzini, Boobytrap, Speaking Volumes, →ISBN:

     Back inside I thought it all over carefully, weighing my options. Not good, any way you sliced it.

   • 2013, William F. Zak, A Mirror for Lovers: Shake-speare's Sonnets as Curious Perspective, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 74:

     Any way one slices it, his dissection of human disease is not a pretty sight.

   • 2018, Derek Haas, The Way I Die: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     Any way I slice it, that's going to take some time. Just flying there and back is going to eat up days.

Translations

from any perspective; in every case

• Finnish: vaikka asiaa miten kääntelisi
• French: de toute façon (fr), en tout cas (fr)
• Polish: pod każdym względem
• Russian: как ни крути́ (ru) (kak ni krutí, literally “however you turn it”)
• Swedish: i vilket fall som helst

See also

• no matter how thin you slice it, it's still baloney

Further reading

• “no matter how (or whichever way, etc.) you slice it, phrase” under “slice, v.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2022.
• “any way you slice it”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “any way you slice it” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “any way you slice it” (US) / “any way you slice it” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “any way you slice it”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “no matter how you slice it”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.