Beating Around the Bush: What It Means and How to Deal with It
Meaning :
If you are searching for its literal meaning, you may be confused about what we have to do with "beat around the bush". The real meaning of this phrase is,
1. It refers to someone who is avoiding the main point and discussing the other area.
2. If a person points out his/ her intention directly, some may get hurt, due to that he/she may point around the other matters.
Example sentences :
1. Why are you beating around the bushes?
2. The phone's battery was low, so don't beat it around the bushes. Just come to the point
3. They are beaten around the bushes instead of explaining how their car met an accident.
Origin:
This phrase came from the medieval period. In those days, the hunters hired some persons to beat around the bushes while he was hunting. A group of people ready for hunting means, at first they chose the place where to hunt. Then they were divided into three groups. One group of people was ready to beat around the bushes, the second group of people had things to divert the birds/animal's attention and the third group was ready to hunt. The first group of people wanted to beat around the bushes with the help of some long wooden stick, then only the bird which was in the bushes, went out and the hunter can easily hunt the bird. The next important thing that they were beating around bushes means, if the hunter want to hunt in one particular area, it was not easy to go straight and hunt the bird which was in the bushes. In the forest, we didn't know what was inside the bushes. If any harmful animals were there means, after beating the bushes around, they may move to some other places. Due to that, they may save their life from any harmful animals.
Like this, if we don't want to point out the main points, we can be beating around the bushes.
In the UK (United Kingdom) instead of using "beat around the bush", they mentioned the phrase as " beat about the bush"
The phrase first appeared in the medieval poem Generydes - A Romance in Seven-line Stanzas, circa 1440:
Butt as it hath be sayde full long agoo,
Some bete the bussh and some the byrdes take.
Then this phrase again appeared in one poem written by George Gascoigne, in 1572.
“To thinke bowe he abused was, alas my heart it bleedes:
He bet about the bushe, whiles other caught the birds …”
Similar idioms:
This idioms "beat around the bush", smilier to,
- Cut to the chase
- Skirt around the issue
- Dance around the topic.
- Speak in circle
