minced words
Carefully chosen language
Minced words appears almost exclusively in negative constructions: to not mince words is to speak bluntly and directly, without softening or hedging.
Someone who doesn't mince words says exactly what they mean, even if it's harsh: She didn't mince words—she told him his work was unacceptable.
The image is of cutting speech into careful, delicate pieces rather than serving it whole.
- equivocatedSpoke ambiguously on purpose
- circumlocutionsIndirect, wordy expressions
- polite expressionsCourteous verbal formulas
- hedgesPlanted boundary lines
- suggestive languageSpeech implying something improper
disclaimers · allusions · qualifiers · coded language · substitutions · mincingly · euphemisms · beat around the bush · beat about the bush · tactful · pull punches · soft pedal · softened · white lies · sugarcoating · kid gloves · indirection · pussyfooting
minced wordsblunt talk
Direct, unvarnished communication
straight talk · bluntness · candor · brutal honesty · forthrightness
minced wordsplain language
Easily understood communication
spelled it out · clear speech · cut to the chase · got to the point
minced wordsharsh criticism
Severe negative judgment
raw honesty · going for the jugular · reading someone the riot act · tongue-lashing
mince, minces, mincing, mincer, mincers, word, words, worded, wording