make the cut vs persist

make the cut

verb
  • To succeed at something or meet a requirement; to be chosen out of a field of candidates or possibilities. 

persist

verb
  • To go on stubbornly or resolutely. 

  • To repeat an utterance. 

  • To cause to persist; make permanent. 

  • To continue to exist. 

How often have the words make the cut and persist occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )