beat around the bush
to avoid talking about a subject
TRANSLATION
beat around the bush = um den heißen Brei herumreden --- GOOGLE INDEX beat around the bush: approximately 350,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"I am not going to BEAT AROUND THE BUSH: I am guilty of what I am accused of," Zumwinkel told the court on the trial's first day. "My career had a bitter end. My job was my life."
(Deutsche Welle)
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"Lets not BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, cricket is played in some dangerous places. There are a number of dangerous cities in which one-day and test-match cricket is played. Players don't enjoy it but it's a fact of life."
(The Guardian)
(Deutsche Welle)
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"Lets not BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, cricket is played in some dangerous places. There are a number of dangerous cities in which one-day and test-match cricket is played. Players don't enjoy it but it's a fact of life."
(The Guardian)
Did you
know?
beat around the bush (in the UK, also beat about the bush)
idiom
- to avoid talking about what is important
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Cambridge University Press 2009)
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WORD ORIGIN
This expression is typically applied in a negative context (Don't beat around the bush. Get to the point!) It has its origins in hunting. Centuries ago it was customary to hire "beaters" to beat the bushes in order to flush out game birds that might be nesting or hiding. The hunter only had to sit and wait for the birds to fly of the bush and then shoot them. In other words, while the beaters "beat about the bush," the hunters got right to the point.
English has many idioms and expressions that are related to hunting:
- take a shot at something = to try and do something (Let's take a shot at that project.) To take a shot is another way of saying to shoot at something.
- to hound someone = to constantly urge someone to do something (My wife hounded me until I finally repaired the living room lamp.) This stems from hunting dogs, also called hounds, that track down other animals.
- to bark up the wrong tree = to focus one's energy or attention in the wrong direction (If you think I was responsible for that mistake, then you're barking up the wrong tree.) Hunting dogs sometimes chase down animals until they climb up a tree. The dogs then gather around the bottom of the tree, barking, so that the hunters know where the animal is. Barking up the wrong tree means the dogs have lost the scent of the animal being tracked.
- to have a hair trigger = to be easily provoked or stimulated into a response (Be careful what you say to him, he has a hair-trigger temper.) A hair trigger is a gun trigger adjusted to respond to a very slight pressure.
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SYNONYMS
shilly-shally, dilly-dally, procrastinate, draw out, drag one's feet, dawdle, give someone the run around
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ANTONYMS
get to the point, to be straightforward, to be candid, to lay it on the line, to tell it like it is, to be a straight shooter, to be frank
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"I won't beat about the bush, we need to reduce our costs by 30% over the next quarter."
idiom
- to avoid talking about what is important
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Cambridge University Press 2009)
---
WORD ORIGIN
This expression is typically applied in a negative context (Don't beat around the bush. Get to the point!) It has its origins in hunting. Centuries ago it was customary to hire "beaters" to beat the bushes in order to flush out game birds that might be nesting or hiding. The hunter only had to sit and wait for the birds to fly of the bush and then shoot them. In other words, while the beaters "beat about the bush," the hunters got right to the point.
English has many idioms and expressions that are related to hunting:
- take a shot at something = to try and do something (Let's take a shot at that project.) To take a shot is another way of saying to shoot at something.
- to hound someone = to constantly urge someone to do something (My wife hounded me until I finally repaired the living room lamp.) This stems from hunting dogs, also called hounds, that track down other animals.
- to bark up the wrong tree = to focus one's energy or attention in the wrong direction (If you think I was responsible for that mistake, then you're barking up the wrong tree.) Hunting dogs sometimes chase down animals until they climb up a tree. The dogs then gather around the bottom of the tree, barking, so that the hunters know where the animal is. Barking up the wrong tree means the dogs have lost the scent of the animal being tracked.
- to have a hair trigger = to be easily provoked or stimulated into a response (Be careful what you say to him, he has a hair-trigger temper.) A hair trigger is a gun trigger adjusted to respond to a very slight pressure.
---
SYNONYMS
shilly-shally, dilly-dally, procrastinate, draw out, drag one's feet, dawdle, give someone the run around
---
ANTONYMS
get to the point, to be straightforward, to be candid, to lay it on the line, to tell it like it is, to be a straight shooter, to be frank
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"I won't beat about the bush, we need to reduce our costs by 30% over the next quarter."
