- Meaning
- This idiom means to avoid addressing a topic directly, using vague or indirect language to delay or evade the main point. It suggests hesitation or reluctance to be straightforward, often used to urge someone to be clear or honest in communication.
- Origin
- The phrase comes from 15th-century English hunting, where beaters would strike bushes to flush out game, but ‘beating around’ implied avoiding the actual target. An early use appears in a 1440 poem: ‘To bete the bush and lete the birdis go.’ By the 16th century, it was metaphorical, with George Gascoigne’s 1572 *Works* using it to describe evasive speech. Its use grew in the 19th century, appearing in Jane Austen’s novels, reflecting social norms of polite but indirect conversation.
- Variants
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- Beating around the bush
- Beat about the bush
- Examples
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- Stop beating around the bush and tell me why you’re really here.
- She was beating around the bush, avoiding the topic of her resignation.
- Don’t beat around the bush—just admit you made a mistake.
- He beat about the bush for an hour before finally asking for a loan.
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