Learn what the phrase "beating around the bush" means
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| Chihiro: Hi everyone, Chihiro here. |
| Daniel: Daniel here. Stop Beating Around the Bush. Hi guys, welcome back to another lesson with EnglishClass101.com. Hope you've found our phrases useful up to now... |
| Chihiro: ... and we hope you find this lesson's phrase just as useful too. Feel free to use our lesson notes tool so that you can follow along. |
| Daniel: Let’s get on to the lesson. |
| Chihiro: So Daniel:, what’s on your mind today? |
| Daniel: Well, My friend said to me the other day, “Stop beating around the bush and tell me what happened.” And it got me thinking about how that phrase actually came to be. |
| Chihro Hmm, good question. Well, let’s first talk about what it means. |
| Daniel: Right. It means to avoid direct approach, or to delay the main point. |
| Chihiro: Exactly. And it sounds like it came about from the hunting days. People used to beat bushes with perhaps a stick in order to scare the animal that was inside it, so that it would run out. This way they didn’t have to go in for the kill directly, as the animal inside could be dangerous. So that’s how it got the meaning today of not getting to the main point immediately… so Daniel:, what was your friend talking about? |
| Daniel: Well, when I went to his house the other day to pick up some DVDs, I saw his exotic blue and yellow fish that he was so fond of floating at the top of the tank. |
| Chihiro: Oh poor thing… |
| Daniel: Yeah, I didn’t want to upset him so I was trying to tell him gently… but he can always tell when I’m trying to tell him something… or not tell him something... |
| Chihiro: As do many friends. Well, I guess you do want to beat around the bush when you give some bad news right? So you can soften the blow. |
| Daniel: Which was exactly my intention. |
| Chihiro: Mmmm. I remember once when I wanted to ask my boss for some time off of work…I went up to my former boss and without saying a word, she told me immediately, “don’t beat around the bush and tell me what you need!” I’m telling you she was a mind reader! But then again she started most of her sentences like that as if she already knew that extra miscellaneous information was coming her way. |
| Daniel: Sounds like a strict boss… but like you said many people do it in order to avoid being too direct… which is sometimes good. I can also however beat around the bush if I want to build some interest. If I want to tell somebody good news but I want to delay getting to the point so that the person keeps guessing, then I can beat around the bush until the other person can’t stand it anymore. |
| Chihiro: Right, it’s kind of like the building tension that makes the surprise all that more exciting! |
| Daniel: Right, it works great on kids, if I tell a child something like, “Well… first we need to take the dog for a walk, then wash the dishes and take out the garbage… and then maybe if you make your bed… I’ll think about buying you a Playstation portable.” I’m sure the kid would be eagerly listening for the PlayStation Portable among the extra information! |
| Chihiro: Yes, and probably too young to know the expression “quit beating around the bush and tell me when I can get my PlayStation Portable!” to tell you that! Listeners, when do you beat around the bush? |
| Daniel: And for what reason? |
| Daniel: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Daniel: What’s the first word? |
| Chihiro: to beat [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: to hit repeatedly |
| Chihiro: to beat [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to beat [natural native speed] |
| The next one is: |
| shrub [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: plant that has stems and leaves but is smaller than a tree |
| shrub [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| shrub [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Chihiro: to avoid [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: to stay away from something |
| Chihiro: to avoid [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to avoid [natural native speed] |
| And the next one: |
| Chihiro: to approach [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: to move closer toward something or somebody |
| Chihiro: to approach [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to approach [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Chihiro: to delay [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: to do something later than thought or planned |
| Chihiro: to delay [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to delay [natural native speed] |
| The next word is:" |
| Chihiro: origin [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: point or place where something starts |
| Chihiro: origin [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: origin [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Chihiro: to disturb [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: to interrupt something or somebody |
| Chihiro: to disturb [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to disturb [natural native speed] |
| The next word is: |
| Chihiro: strict [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: acting according to principles without much flexibility |
| Chihiro: strict [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: strict [natural native speed] |
| Next we have: |
| Chihiro: to prolong [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: to extend time or duration |
| Chihiro: to prolong [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to prolong [natural native speed] |
| And the last word is: |
| Chihiro: portable [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: easy to carry |
| Chihiro: portable [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: portable [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: That just about does it for today. |
| Daniel: Bye! |
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