Cut and Dried
"Completely settled, decided, or predictable, with no room left for discussion."
Comes from herbalists' trade language. Herbs that had already been harvested, cut, and dried for sale in an apothecary's shop were, quite literally, "cut and dried," ready to use, as opposed to herbs still growing and unprepared. The image transferred naturally to anything equally finished and ready-made, with no spontaneity left in it. An early figurative use appears in a 1710 letter, describing a sermon that had been prepared well in advance as "ready cut and dried," meaning competent but predictable rather than freshly inspired.
Myth vs. FactAlternative folk explanations involving dried meat (jerky) or seasoned, cut timber get repeated sometimes, but neither shows up anywhere in the historical record connected to this phrase. The herbalist-shop origin is the one actually documented.
Sources: Herbalist trade usage documented from the mid-17th century; figurative use recorded in a 1710 letter, per the Oxford English Dictionary.
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