cut the Gordian knot

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

cut the Gordian knot (third-person singular simple present cuts the Gordian knot, present participle cutting the Gordian knot, simple past and past participle cut the Gordian knot)

1. (intransitive) To solve a seemingly intractable problem by using a simple solution that is unconstrained by the assumptions that underpin the usual attempts to solve that problem.
   • 1828, Walter Scott, chapter II, in My Aunt Margaret's Mirror:

     Yet there were so many difficulties in assigning a natural explanation, that, to the day of her death, she remained in great doubt on the subject, and much disposed to cut the Gordian knot by admitting the existence of supernatural agency.

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 快刀斬亂麻 / 快刀斩乱麻 (zh) (kuàidāo zhǎn luànmá, literally “To cut tangled hemp with a sharp blade”)

• Czech: rozetnout gordický uzel
• Finnish: avata Gordionin solmu
• French: trancher le nœud gordien (fr)
• Japanese: 快刀乱麻を断つ (ja) (kaitō ranma o tatsu, literally “To cut tangled hemp with a sharp blade”)

See also

• Hobson's choice