To cut both ways

Posted by TheFallen March 21, 2003In reply to To cut both ways posted by Dave M. on March 21, 2003

First, thanks to all who helped with the previous inquiry - very helpful community!

The latest mystery is "to cut both ways". I know what the expression means, but any ideas as to its origin? Google's not yielding too much information.

--Dave

My understanding is this. A two-edged sword cuts both ways, thus giving us the synonymous idioms "that's a two-edged sword" and "that cuts both ways".