Do You Say ‘Mow The Lawn’ or ‘Cut The Grass’?

I'd posted earlier this week about how long the grass and weeds are getting in the median along parts of West Circle Drive, but it got me thinking about which phrase more Minnesotans use when it comes to using the lawn mower.

Specifically, do you say you're going to "mow the lawn," or do you say you're going to "cut the grass"?

Either one is technically correct, but I find myself saying, 'mow the lawn' most often. I think I probably got it from my dad, when he first showed me how to use the lawn mower some 30-plus years ago.

In fact, when I was a kid, I used to think people were saying they were going to use the 'lawn more' to 'mow the lawn'. (Go ahead and say it to yourself right now. 'Lawn mower' sure sounds like 'lawn more' if you say it fast enough, doesn't it?)

I also think, though, that 'mowing the lawn' is probably more accurate than 'cutting the grass'. I mean, you use a lawn mower, don't you? So, it only follows, then, that you would be 'mowing the lawn.' You don't power up the 'grass cutter,' do you?

Although, come to think of it, neither of those phrases is the most accurate, at least when it comes to the yard work at our house. 'Chop down the weeds' probably comes closest!