beaten around the bush
Spoke in circles
To have beaten around the bush is to have avoided addressing something directly, approaching a topic through hints or tangential remarks rather than stating what you mean.
The phrase implies evasiveness or excessive delicacy: By the time he finally asked for a raise, he'd beaten around the bush for twenty minutes.
See also beat around the bush.
- talking in circlesRepetitive speech avoiding directness
- euphemismMild substitute for bluntness
- sugarcoatingMaking unpleasant seem pleasant
- soft pedalingDeliberately minimizing emphasis
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
evasion · equivocating · diplomacy · playing coy · avoidance · reluctance · tactfulness · circumlocution · ambiguity · vagueness · hedging · indirectness · delay tactics · white lies · gentle letdown · procrastination · indecision · deflection
directness of communication
beaten around the bushcut to the chase
Skip to essentials
told it like it is · called a spade a spade · spit it out · gotten to the point