From the older form beat about the bush
beat around the bush third-person singular simple present beats around the bush present participle beating around the bush simple past and past participle beaten around the bush
( idiomatic ) treat a topic, but omit its main points , often intentionally .( idiomatic ) delay or avoid talking about something difficult or unpleasant.
Synonyms: go around the houses prevaricate pussyfoot ramble tergiversate waffle Antonyms: cut to the chase get on with it get to the point Just stop beating around the bush and tell me what the problem is!
1870 Horatio Alger , Rufus and Rose [1] "Look here," said Smith, menacingly, "if you think I cheated you, you might as well say so right out. I don't like beating around the bush ."
to treat a topic but omit its main points
Armenian: ջուր ծեծել (hy) ( ǰur cecel ) , յուղ վառել (hy) ( yuġ vaṙel )
Catalan: marejar la perdiu
Chinese:
Mandarin: 拐彎抹角 / 拐弯抹角 (zh) ( guǎiwānmòjiǎo ) , 轉彎抹角 / 转弯抹角 (zh) ( zhuǎnwānmòjiǎo ) , 兜圈子 (zh) ( dōuquānzi ) , 繞圈子 / 绕圈子 (zh) ( ràoquānzi )
Dutch: rond de pot draaien (nl) ( literally “ circle around the pot ” ) , om de hete brij dansen ( literally “ dance around the hot porridge ” )
Esperanto: ĉirkaŭparoli
Finnish: kierrellä (fi) , jaaritella (fi) , puhua ummet ja lammet
French: tourner autour du pot (fr) ( literally “ circle around the pot ” )
German: um den heißen Brei herumreden (de) ( literally “ talk around the hot porridge ” )
Hungarian: kerülgeti, mint macska a forró kását (hu) ( literally “ circle like a cat around hot porridge ” ) , köntörfalaz (hu) , mellébeszél (hu)
Italian: menare il can per l'aia ( literally “ to lead the dog around the yard ” ) , girarci intorno tergiversare (it) , fare giri di parole andare per le spicce
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بڕۆ سەر ئەصلی بابەت
Luxembourgish: ronderëm de Bräi schwätzen
Maltese: dur mal-lewża
Maori: tītahataha
Norwegian: gå som katten rundt den varme grøten ( literally “ circle like a cat around the warm porridge ” )
Polish: owijać w bawełnę (pl) impf ( literally “ to wrap around in the cotton ” )
Portuguese: fazer rodeios (pt) , usar de rodeios (pt) ( literally “ to use roundabout conversations ” ) , enrolar (pt) , encher linguiça (pt)
Russian: ходи́ть вокру́г да о́коло (ru) ( xodítʹ vokrúg da ókolo , literally “ walk round and about ” ) , тяну́ть рези́ну (ru) ( tjanútʹ rezínu , literally “ pull rubber ” ) , перелива́ть из пусто́го в поро́жнее (ru) ( perelivátʹ iz pustóvo v poróžneje , literally “ empty one container into another ” )
Serbo-Croatian: okolišati (sh) , obilaziti kao mačak oko vruće kaše
Spanish: andarse con rodeos andar con ambages
Swedish: gå som katten kring gröten ( literally “ to walk like a cat around warm porridge ” )
Tagalog: pasikut-sikot ( roundabout ) , magpaligoy-ligoy lumigoy-ligoy
Thai: ออกทะเล (th) ( ɔ̀ɔk-tá-lee , literally “ to go out to the sea ” ) , ชักแม่น้ำทั้งห้า (th) ( chák-mɛ̂ɛ-náam-táng-hâa , literally “ to allude to all the five rivers ” )
Vietnamese: nói gần nói xa chẳng qua nói thật
to delay or avoid talking about something difficult or unpleasant
Armenian: ջուր ծեծել (hy) ( ǰur cecel ) , յուղ վառել (hy) ( yuġ vaṙel )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 轉彎抹角 / 转弯抹角 ( zyun3 waan1 mut3 gok3 , zyun3 waan1 mut6 gok3 ) , 遊花園 / 游花园 ( jau4 faa1 jyun4-2 , literally “ to wander around the garden ” )
Mandarin: 拐彎抹角 / 拐弯抹角 (zh) ( guǎiwānmòjiǎo )
Czech: chodit kolem horké kaše ( literally “ circle around hot porridge ” )
Dutch: rond de pot draaien (nl) ( literally “ circle around the pot ” ) , om de hete brij dansen ( literally “ dance around the hot porridge ” )
Esperanto: ĉirkaŭparoli
Finnish: kiertää kuin kissa kuumaa puuroa kierrellä (fi)
French: tourner autour du pot (fr) ( literally “ circle around the pot ” )
German: um den heißen Brei herumreden (de) ( literally “ talk around the pot ” )
Hungarian: köntörfalaz (hu)
Icelandic: tala í kringum fara í kringum eins og köttur í kringum heitan graut (is)
Italian: menare il can per l'aia ( literally “ to lead the dog around the yard ” )
Maltese: dur mal-lewża
Maori: tītahataha
Norwegian: gå som katten rundt den varme grøten ( literally “ circle like a cat around the warm porridge ” )
Polish: owijać w bawełnę (pl) ( literally “ wrap in cotton ” )
Portuguese: enrolar (pt) , embromar (pt) , encher linguiça (pt)
Russian: ходи́ть вокру́г да о́коло (ru) ( xodítʹ vokrúg da ókolo , literally “ walk round and about ” ) , тяну́ть рязи́ну ( tjanútʹ rjazínu , literally “ pull rubber ” ) , перелива́ть из пусто́го в поро́жнее (ru) ( perelivátʹ iz pustóvo v poróžneje , literally “ empty one container into another ” )
Spanish: ir por los cerros de Úbeda andarse por las ramas
Swedish: gå som katten kring het gröt
Tagalog: pasikut-sikot ( literally “ roundabout ” )
Thai: ออกทะเล (th) ( ɔ̀ɔk-tá-lee , literally “ to go out to the sea ” ) , ชักแม่น้ำทั้งห้า (th) ( chák-mɛ̂ɛ-náam-táng-hâa , literally “ to allude to all the five rivers ” )
Turkish: lafı dolandırmak
Vietnamese: vòng vo tam quốc (vi)
Translations to be checked
