What Does “Beat Around The Bush” Mean? When To Use It

The English language is an old language. It’s also one that’s full of idioms that you must understand in order to be able to carry on a conversation.

“To beat around the bush” is an idiom that dates back to medieval times when hunters would hire men to literally beat around a bush with a stick in order to flush out the game that was hiding there. Its figurative meaning is used frequently today. It means someone is avoiding getting to the point.

Meaning of the Phrase

To “beat around the bush” is one of those phrases that has both a literal and a figurative meaning. Although its literal meaning is old and outdated it has to do with hunters employing people to hit a roost with a stick so that the birds would fly up out of them. Presumably, this was done because beating the ground around the bush would be both slow and a waste of labor.

Figuratively, this phrase has to do with talking about different things instead of addressing the actual topic at hand. In this way, the topic was being evaded. Sometimes this is done in order to hide the truth or prolong telling someone something. However, it’s also a tactic that’s employed by people who gossip a lot.

Synonyms

There are a lot of different synonyms that can be used to mean “beat around the bush.” These include:

• bypass
• cavil
• circumvent
• dodge
• duck
• elude
• equivocate
• evade
• flip-flop
• fudge
• hedge
• pussyfoot
• quibble
• shake
• shirk
• shun
• sidestep
• skirt
• straddle
• tergiversate
• waffle
• weasel
• yo-yo

Synonymous Phrases

It’s interesting to note that “beat around the bush” isn’t the only phrase that means to straddle a subject. Other phrases with similar meanings include:

• “Hem and haw” means to hesitate or be indecisive
• “Straddle the fence” means to avoid giving someone a definite answer or taking a position on something
• “Scare up” means to flush game out from undercover

Antonyms

There are equally as many antonyms available for this phrase as there are synonyms. These antonyms include:

• accede
• acquiesce
• aid
• allow
• assent
• assist
• catch
• comply
• confront
• contract
• court
• embrace
• encounter
• encourage
• face
• follow
• free
• help
• incur
• keep
• liberate
• meet
• obey
• observe
• permit
• pursue
• release
• seek
• welcome

Antonymous Phrases

There are a few antonymous phrases that mean the opposite of “beat around the bush.” These include:

• “Cut to the chase” means “get to the point” or get to the most important idea
• “Get on with it” means make progress

Origin of the Phrase

When you look at the literal meaning of the phrase you can trace its origin back to bird hunting in the medieval days. During these hunts, there’d be some participants who were hired to rouse the birds. They did this by beating the bushes so that the birds would fly out so other people could shoot them. While doing this they never wanted to hit the bush directly because this could be dangerous (e.g. you might hit a bee’s nest).

The figurative meaning of this phrase evolved from this literal meaning. You can see it first being used in an old romantic poem entitled “Generydes – a Romance in Seven-Line Stanza.” Written in 1440 it has a line that says “Butt as it hath be sayde full long agoo, Some bete the bussh and some the byrdes take.”

Unfortunately, nobody knows who actually wrote this poem. In fact, there’s only one handwritten copy of it in existence today and it’s found in the library of Trinity College in Cambridge. Nevertheless, this still shows us that as early as 1440 the figurative meaning of this phrase existed because the author saw ‘beting the bussh’ as a poor substitute for moving along and ‘taking the byydes’.

We also see this phrase being used in the 15th century. In fact, George Gascoigne used it in his writing in 1572 when he said “He bet about the bush, whyles other caught the birds.” This is why some people say that this is one of the oldest non-Biblical phrases found within the English language.

Use of the Phrase

Depending upon where you learned English you may be more familiar with the saying “beating about the bush” than you are with “beating around the bush.” In the United States, we typically say “beating around the bush” but those areas that use British tend to say “beating about the bush” instead.

Now that you know there’s a difference in how this is said, you may be wondering why such a difference exists. Of course, the only real difference here has to do with the words “around” and “about.” When you look at these words they appear to be the same idea. However, their actual meaning can deviate a bit. For instance, in British English, the word “about” means “to make a way around” but in American English, it typically means “regarding something.” Therefore in British English, you’re not going to be asked “What’s that all about?” Instead, you’ll be asked, “What all does it regard?” Here you can see that British English is a bit more formal than American English.

In both American and British English the phrase “beat around the bush” basically means the same thing. However, British English places more care on the words that are used instead of in perception while in American English most of the words are less precise because perception is more important. This is why the British have more interesting ads than Americans: They’re more creative in their usage of the English language and they’re also more precise when it comes to the item that’s being sold. Simply put, the United States focuses more on selling the fantasy or perception of an item than it focuses on selling the item itself.

The Phrase in Popular Culture

This phrase is so popular today that it’s been used throughout culture in several different places. These include:

• A popular song entitled “Beat Around the Bush” by AC/DC talks about how the singer isn’t able to understand the lies his lover told him. He continues on to say that he wants her to stop crying and acting. While he never uses this phrase directly, he alludes to it throughout this song.
• “Rose Come Home” by Daryl Hall and John Oates is another song that alludes to “beating around the bush.” This song was written in an era when everyone was avoiding reality. In it, the singer tells his beloved Rosie that he yearns to tell her that he loves her. While he talks about a sombrero, people who are indulging in pleasure, and time he’s asking Rosie to accept his love. This love is clearly stated in the first stanza of the song and then repeated throughout the rest of the song.
• “I Want to Know” is a poem that was written by Mojibur Rahman. In it, the poet is longing to talk about the many things that are on our minds – things that we’re unable to understand. However, instead of talking clearly about these things he “beats around the bush” and thus appears to be a liar. Herein the phrase is used in its original words and with its original meaning as the poet avoids coming to the point.
• “Tesla: The Modern Sorcerer” by Daniel Blair Stewart is a book that contains a paragraph wherein we see the supposed personas of Thomas Edison, Wilbur, and Zenas. At one point Wilbur asks Zenas to not “beat around the bush.” As he does so he’s able to divert from the phrase’s literal meaning in a humorous way.

Example Sentences

Now that you see how easy it is to use this phrase in your conversation and writing you may want to give it a try yourself. Here are a few sentence examples to help get you started:

• Instead of beating around the bush can you just get to the point?
• When I asked Jose about the papers that were left on my desk he started beating around the bush, refusing to give me a straight answer.
• Stop beating around the bush and give me your honest opinion.
• While this discussion may be uncomfortable for you let’s stop beating around the bush and get it over with.
• Instead of beating around the bush why don’t you just tell me what you really want?
• If you keep beating around the bush instead of telling me what you really want, I can’t help you.
• Why can’t you get to the point instead of beating around the bush?
• Instead of telling me why he’s always late for work he beat around the bush.
• Tiffany keeps beating around the bush instead of telling me why she’s so upset.
• Sally has me so confused because all she does is beat around the bush.

Conclusion

“Beat around the bush” is a phrase that has both a literal and a figurative meaning. While it literally means to beat around a bush and scare out birds for hunting, figuratively it means to avoid getting to the point. Fortunately, most people understand this phrase today based upon the context in which it’s used.