put up or shut up

Idioms  

1. Act on what you are saying or stop talking about it, as in You've been citing evidence for months but never presented it—now put up or shut up. This somewhat impolite term, often put as a command, is believed to come from gambling, in which a card player is told to ante up or withdraw. A second theory maintains that it means either put up your fists to fight or back down. [1870s] Also see put one's money where one's mouth is.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

put up or shut up

Three years later he faced down internal party division, challenging his rivals to "put up or shut up" He defeated Tory MP John Redwood in a ballot of his MPs.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

“We gotta put up or shut up, I will say that,” Malloe said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2024

"It's a case of put up or shut up at this point."

From Reuters ● Sep. 12, 2022

"It's put up or shut up," he said.

From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2022

Conant was telling him point-blank to put up or shut up.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik