Where did the term "cut-and-dried" come from?

Search: cut and dried origin

Why: Sometimes people say "cut and dry."

Answer: The term means something that is prearranged or inflexible, completely decided in advance, so it lacks freshness, originality, or spontaneity. Two origin stories:

• It came from the frontier days, when meat was "cut and dried" into jerky strips so it would keep on long journeys.
• It refers to pieces of timber that were cut and left to season by drying.
• It means cutting and drying herbs for sale.
  

The first two, of course, don't really relate to the actual meaning of the idiom. The third is probably right.

Source: World Wide Words

The More You Know: It first appeared in 1710 in a letter to a clergyman, telling him his boring sermon was "really cut and dried." Jonathan Swift used it in a 1730 poem, describing clichés:

Sets of Phrases, cut and dry,
Evermore thy Tongue supply