Cut ice

Will that cut any ice with Moscow? No, they won't care.

It cuts no ice with a British copper to tell him you're an American citizen. 'It's British law and order over here,' says he.

Fowler, And let me say to you, honourable gentlemen, that, so far as I am concerned, the fact that a Bill was passed by the House of Commons does not, as is said vulgarly, cut any ice with me, because I have seen some of the rottenest legislation passed by the House of Commons. I say, it does not cut any ice with me, and it should not influence you, honourable gentlemen.

It's a feeling of impotence: of cutting no ice. Here I sit at Richmond, & like a lantern stood in the middle of a field my light goes up in darkness.

But those who contend that 4hr from Newcastle to London is fast enough, and that a reduction of 5-10min will cut little ice but cost a lot, are being harder put to it to justify their case in face of the air rivalry and arguments that these days any travel medium must present an image of continuous advance.

Intriguing though such an argument may be to economists, it is unlikely to cut much ice with politicians.

One member of our Task Group worked on early drafts of the Standard. He recalls that the major challenge was to convince business leaders to take training seriously: 'We had to use language that cut ice with chief executives.'

The point is that the “tests" were usually made in the context of specific, everyday situations and lacked rhetoric which cut ice with the intellectuals.

... he had the oratorical delivery to match, and that cut ice with the people in high places. George McCauley, the secretary of education, had invited Biren to lunch at the Royal Bengal Club. Never was there a more snobbish institution[…]

"The fact that I didn't believe she would do it wouldn't cut any ice with the Court. Nothing doing. I've had publicity enough over my domestic casualty to last the rest of my life."