Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

not to put too fine a point on it en · X

Pronunciation

  • /nɑt tə ˌpʊt tu ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɑn ət/ (General-American)
  • /nɒt tʊ ˌpʊt tuː ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɒn ɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (Australia) audio

Etymology

A reference to the fact that the speaker is about to say something blunt rather than fine (that is, delicate or subtle).

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms.
    • You explain slowly and clearly that you are doing him the honour of not beating about the bush […] Well, you will end up – not to put too fine a point on it (you lower your voice) – having sex. And while you are sure that sex would be very nice, the prognosis for a future between the two of you is not good. 2000, Amy Jenkins, chapter 4, in Honeymoon, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN; republished as Honeymoon (Flame), London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2001, →ISBN, page 39:
    • Well, Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one time with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn't very much in it one way or the other. As far as one can see, at this stage. 1980, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, Yes Minister, season 1, episode 5:
    • En route, to his taciturn, and, not to put too fine a point on it, not yet perfectly sober companion, Mr Bloom, who at all events, was in complete possession of his faculties, never more so, in fact disgustingly sober, spoke a word of caution re the dangers of nighttown, women of ill fame and swell mobsmen, […] 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 570:
    • My little woman is at present in—not to put too fine a point on it—in a pious state, or in what she considers such, and attends the Evening Exertions (which is the name they go by) of a reverend party of the name of Chadband. 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Bucket”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 217:

Relateds

frankly speaking · pardon my French · to tell the truth · pardon my German · to be honest · to speak frankly · in all honesty · excuse my French

Translations (8)

tr ayıptır söylemesi (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement) · fi anteeksi ilmaisuni (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement) · fr pardonnez-moi l'expression (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement) · pl przepraszam za wyrażenie (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement) · fr si vous me permettez l'expression (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement) · hu hogy ne mondjam (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement) · fr passez-moi l'expression (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement) · pl mówiąc bez ogródek (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement)