put up or shut up

English

Verb

put up or shut up

1. (idiomatic) To desist from saying something unless one is able to prove it; to act in a manner that makes further talk unnecessary.
   • 2005 June 21, Cornelia Dean, "Opting Out in the Debate on Evolution ," New York Times (retrieved 22 June 2011):

     "If the evidence for modern Darwinian theory is so overwhelming, they should have called the bluff on the other side and come and made their arguments. . . . They should have put up or shut up."

1. (politics) To put yourself forward for election or cease disloyalty to the incumbent.
   • 1982 April 26, "Stumbling to a Showdown," Time:

     Finally a showdown in the lengthy struggle over the new 1983 federal budget is at hand. . . . "We keep dancing around the fire," observed South Carolina's Democratic Senator Fritz Rollings last week. "Now we must put up or shut up."

   • 1995July 22, John Major, "[1],"

     "That is why I am no longer prepared to tolerate the present situation. In short, it is time to put up or shut up."

See also

• fish or cut bait

References

• put up or shut up at OneLook Dictionary Search