cut both ways

Definitions

1. To have both benefits and drawbacks.
   idiomatic
2. To have implications for something as well as its counterpart.
   idiomatic
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, both, ways.

Examples

“A redundant observation about Ben Fouhy: It's not easy being him. "No, not really. But that cuts both ways you know⟳, that affords me the opportunities, the highs and lows, the heights and depths that perhaps other people don't ... experience⟳."”

“Readers are invited at this point⟳ to listen⟳ to the pleasant sound⟳ of the recordings in LT [Lehman’s temperament], which can be found on this page. Together with the record⟳ value of MSS [Music Sameness of Scales], this makes a convincing case for Lehman’s hypothesis. But arguments, like⟳ a razor,(5) cut⟳ both ways: some lesser known temperament might achieve⟳ a better MSS than LT”

“And the findings could cut⟳ both ways. / "It's certainly possible that an intruder was responsible for the murder⟳, but I don't think⟳ that the DNA evidence proves it," said William C. Thompson […] Similarly, the findings don't implicate or exonerate anyone in the family.”

“[…] It may be tempting to criticize my analogy because it assumes a case where one vote⟳ can actually influence⟳ the outcome. That would be fair, of course, but it would also cut⟳ both ways. / If you're vote⟳ can't be strategic because it is statistically meaningless, then neither can it be moral. / In which case both arguments - vote⟳ your conscience & vote⟳ your strategy - should be dumped in favor of a third: don't vote⟳.”

“This argument cuts both ways.”

CEFR level