Whiteisms
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Etymology Journal ยท B

Beating around the bush

Meaning

Avoiding the main topic or delaying speaking the truth because it is uncomfortable. You are dancing around the issue rather than facing it directly.

Impatient, direct

Used in a sentence

  • Stop beating around the bush and just tell me if I'm fired.
  • He kept beating around the bush instead of answering the question.
  • I am tired of beating around the bush, so let us talk about the budget.

The backstory

This is a very old hunting metaphor from the late Middle Ages. Assistants would beat the bushes to scare birds into the air so the hunters could shoot them, but they had to be careful not to go directly into the thicket where the animals were hiding.

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