etymology - Where does the idiom "beating around the bush" come from?


Where does the idiom "beating around the bush" come from?



Answer



Beat around the bush (meaning "discuss a matter without coming to the point") has been first used in 1570s; its sense has shifted from "make preliminary motions" to "avoid, evade."
See also beat the bushes, which is a way to rouse birds so that they fly into the net which others are holding.


[Reference: Etymonline and the New Oxford American Dictionary.]


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