cut to the quick

Related to cut to the quick: and so forth, get off the ground, put on airs, cut some slack

cut (one) to the quick

1. To slice a part of the body very deeply. Be careful—one slip of that knife and you'll cut yourself to the quick.
2. To strike the deepest, most fragile part of one. Typically used to describe emotional wounds. I can't even look at her right now—that hurtful remark cut me right to the quick.
See also: cut, quick

stung to the quick

Deeply emotionally hurt or offended. I was stung to the quick to learn that they called my dress tacky behind my back. The hostess, stung to the quick by her guests' words, locked herself in the bedroom upstairs.
See also: quick, stung

to the quick

1. To the exposed flesh, especially that which is tender. I've bitten my fingernails to the quick, and still, I can't stop myself!
2. To the deepest, most fragile part of oneself. Typically used to describe emotional wounds. I can't even look at her right now—that hurtful remark cut me right to the quick.
See also: quick
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

cut someone to the quick

 and cut someone to the bone 
1. Lit. to slice the flesh of someone or some animal clear through to the underlying layer of flesh or to the bone. With the very sharp knife, David cut the beast to the quick in one blow. He cut his finger to the quick with the sharp knife.
2. Fig. to injure someone emotionally. (See also cut something to the bone.) Your heartless comments cut me to the quick. Her remarks cut him to the bone.
See also: cut, quick
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

cut to the quick

Deeply wound or distress, as in His criticism cut her to the quick. This phrase uses the quick in the sense of a vital or a very sensitive part of the body, such as under the fingernails. It also appeared in such older locutions as touched to the quick, for "deeply affected," and stung to the quick, for "wounded, distressed," both dating from the early 1500s. The current expression was considered a cliché from about 1850 on.
See also: cut, quick
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

cut to the quick

To be deeply wounded; to have one’s feelings hurt. The noun “quick” means the living, as well as the most vital and important part; today it also means the very sensitive flesh between the fingernails and skin. To be touched to the quick, meaning to be deeply affected, has been used since the sixteenth century; it appears in John Heywood’s Proverbs and in several places in Shakespeare’s plays (Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, and others). Another version is stung to the quick, as in “The last appellation stung her to the quick” (Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews, 1742). “Cut to the quick” is a still later wording and has been a cliché since about 1850. See also quick and the dead.
See also: cut, quick
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • cut (one) to the quick
  • cut somebody to the quick
  • cut someone to the quick
  • cut through (something) like a (hot) knife through butter
  • slice up
  • cut someone in
  • cut in
  • cut in(to)
  • cut into
  • cut through
References in periodicals archive
To cut to the quick: there has been a lot of talk about whether this week's was to be [euro]3.1billion or a [euro]2.5billion "Budget".
Noughts and crosses to bear
McCarthy said: "Let's cut to the quick and not mess around.
McCarthy baffled by hopeless show; CHAMPIONSHIP: Shock early strike enough to steal points from leaders
Michael Caine knew how to cut to the quick as we witnessed in Get Carter (1971).
SEX, LINES & VIDEOTAPE; A look at the greatest ever movie quotes
After exchanging pleasantries about the importance of scrutiny in the democratic process -'submitting oneself to you is obligatory' -he cut to the quick.
Hetherington defends his role in culture bid failure; The man responsible for Birmingham's failed European Capital of Culture bid faced his critics yesterday. Chief Reporter Paul Dale was there to witness Stephen Hetherington defending himself
Devised by a mother in Arizona who said she realised how much her son was hurting inside when his father kept failing to show up for visits, the cards certainly cut to the quick. Still, we shouldn't mock.
Nurses' Day
He was thus sorely cut to the quick earlier this week when the celebrated Dublin novelist Roddy Doyle mocked his book in an interview linked to the publication of his own latest work based on the life of his parents.
The Luck of the Irish; Lew Baxter meets the self-effacing multi-millionaire Bill Cullen who tells all about his rags-to-riches story
(All Luther feels, he tells us, is "God's hatred" -- and blocked bowels.) That's a lot for modern-day audiences to digest, and yet "Luther" knows when to cut to the quick. "We owe so much to you," Stanpitz says in a final address that stops well short of hagiography.
Luther. (Abroad)
This draw cut to the quick and the former Aston Villa striker knows the flak will fly.
TOMMY: NO GAIN JUST PAIN
Michael Caine knew how to cut to the quick. In Get Carter (1971) he told his brother's killer: "You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like.
Sex, lines & videotape; CRACKS KEEP REELING ON
CUT TO THE QUICK: The X-ray of Ratko' SHARP END: Ratko, left, and the items that he swallowed after the booze-up
A HARD ACT TO SWALLOW; Op for drunk after sword bet
While one can imagine a defter staging of an episodic text that cries out for a turntable set rather than Giles Cadle's cleverly paneled all-purpose space, writer-director LaBute demonstrates an ability to cut to the quick that surpasses the thudding ironies of his monologue-driven "bash." Some may be blown away by "The Shape of Things," and others (women, I suspect) will loathe it, but the truth is that there hasn't been so potentially inflammatory an American play since "Oleanna."
THE SHAPE OF THINGS
Guess what, their research has shown their users hate such ads, preferring to 'cut to the quick' and look at the content rather than being distracted.
Behold the wacky world on the web
It's a tough midweek for punters with the teams who have something to play for cut to the quick.
FOOTBALL: Mr Fixit: POLE CAN DO MAGIC; Celtic fans backing Zurawski
But she was cut to the quick when Dan, right, shot back: "Says her.
Big Brother: HIPPO JIBE RILES DAN
Boxer's subtly fierce performance is the linchpin of an able ensemble that knows when to reach, flamboyantly, for laughs (Liza Sadovy's fur-clad Leading Actress is especially ripe), but also how to cut to the quick.
SIX CHARACTERS LOOKING FOR AN AUTHOR