Cuts deep or cuts deeply

Question

I'm editing an op-ed for a friend, and her title includes "the stigma cuts deeply". Sure, deeply can work adverbially here, but am I wrong to think that "deep" can also work? The former meaning that it's cutting deeply as a sort of continuous act and the latter as a kind of singular, in-the-instance example and therefore "deep"?

David Siegel · Answer

"Cuts deep" can certainly be a valid phrase. Without more context, I cannot give any opinion about its use in this particular piece of writing. But it might be worth recalling the traditional saying "still waters run deep". In that usage "deep" seems to work better than "deeply".

Answered by David Siegel on March 13, 2021

bvcolic · Answer

“Cut deep” is a verb with a cognate accusative adjective here working as an adverb. “Cut deeply,” however, is a verb with an adverb. Both of these cases are valid grammatically.

Cuts deep or cuts deeply

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