Hey everybody, I'm Matt, this is the 10 Minute Bible Hour Podcast, and you're probably going to laugh at me.

But I would like to admit right now that until very recently, I did not know what the expression

cut to the quick mint.

I knew metaphorically that it means getting past the surface-y external stuff

and getting all the way down to the heart and maybe even wounding someone

because you got a little too deep into their business or into what makes them them.

But I did not know that this expression is apparently drawn from trimming nails or claws on an animal.

Maybe the person who told me this was lying to me because they know I have a podcast

and I would run right to the microphone and tell you.

I don't know. What I heard is that the part of the claw that is still living

and that is still being fueled with blood and nutrients, you get down to the quick.

That's actually part of the animal, whereas the rest is like a nail or hair.

I guess it's attached to you, but it's not living in the same sense

that something that's connected to blood vessels is living.

So if you cut that claw on your pet too far down, it'll bleed and now you're not trimming external things anymore.

You're getting down to the real actual self of that dog and that's mean and it hurts.

So you want to be careful not to cut to the quick.

Likewise, from time to time, I've got feedback in life that cuts to the quick.

The remark gets past the external stuff that is connected to me, but not really me

and gets all the way down to the stuff that is really me and it makes the recipient

of such a remark metaphorically bleed.

I think cut to the quick is an appropriate expression to describe what we've been looking at here

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