See not to put too fine a point on it on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "A reference to the fact that the speaker is about to say something blunt rather than fine (that is, delicate or subtle).",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "phrase"
},
"expansion": "not to put too fine a point on it",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "phrase",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
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"name": "English terms with placeholder \"it\"",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
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},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Bucket”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 217:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 570:",
"text": "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, […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Amy Jenkins, chapter 4, in Honeymoon, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN; republished as Honeymoon (Flame), London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2001, →ISBN, page 39:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms."
],
"id": "en-not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it-en-phrase-727uTJ4N",
"links": [
[
"apologize",
"apologize#English"
],
[
"impolite",
"impolite#English"
],
[
"statement",
"statement#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "in all honesty"
},
{
"word": "to be honest"
},
{
"word": "to speak frankly"
},
{
"word": "frankly speaking"
},
{
"word": "to tell the truth"
},
{
"word": "pardon my French"
},
{
"word": "excuse my French"
},
{
"word": "pardon my German"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "anteeksi ilmaisuni"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "si vous me permettez l’expression"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "pardonnez-moi l’expression"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "passez-moi l’expression"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "hogy ne mondjam"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "mówiąc bez ogródek"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/nɒt tʊ ˌpʊt tuː ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɒn ɪt/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/nɑt tə ˌpʊt tu ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɑn ət/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-not to put too fine a point on it.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/21/En-au-not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it.ogg/En-au-not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/En-au-not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it.ogg"
}
],
"word": "not to put too fine a point on it"
}
{
"etymology_text": "A reference to the fact that the speaker is about to say something blunt rather than fine (that is, delicate or subtle).",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "phrase"
},
"expansion": "not to put too fine a point on it",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "phrase",
"related": [
{
"word": "in all honesty"
},
{
"word": "to be honest"
},
{
"word": "to speak frankly"
},
{
"word": "frankly speaking"
},
{
"word": "to tell the truth"
},
{
"word": "pardon my French"
},
{
"word": "excuse my French"
},
{
"word": "pardon my German"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English phrases",
"English sentence adverbs",
"English terms with placeholder \"it\"",
"English terms with quotations",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Hungarian translations",
"Terms with Polish translations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Bucket”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 217:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 570:",
"text": "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, […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Amy Jenkins, chapter 4, in Honeymoon, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN; republished as Honeymoon (Flame), London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2001, →ISBN, page 39:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms."
],
"links": [
[
"apologize",
"apologize#English"
],
[
"impolite",
"impolite#English"
],
[
"statement",
"statement#English"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/nɒt tʊ ˌpʊt tuː ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɒn ɪt/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/nɑt tə ˌpʊt tu ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɑn ət/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-not to put too fine a point on it.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/21/En-au-not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it.ogg/En-au-not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/En-au-not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it.ogg"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "anteeksi ilmaisuni"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "si vous me permettez l’expression"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "pardonnez-moi l’expression"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "passez-moi l’expression"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "hogy ne mondjam"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement",
"word": "mówiąc bez ogródek"
}
],
"word": "not to put too fine a point on it"
}
Download raw JSONL data for not to put too fine a point on it meaning in All languages combined (4.2kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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