"not to put too fine a point on it" meaning in English

See not to put too fine a point on it in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

IPA: /nɒt tʊ ˌpʊt tuː ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɒn ɪt/ [Received-Pronunciation], /nɑt tə ˌpʊt tu ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɑn ət/ [General-American] Audio: en-au-not to put too fine a point on it.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: A reference to the fact that the speaker is about to say something blunt rather than fine (that is, delicate or subtle). Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} not to put too fine a point on it
  1. (idiomatic) Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: in all honesty, to be honest, to speak frankly, frankly speaking, to tell the truth, pardon my French, excuse my French, pardon my German Translations (used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement): anteeksi ilmaisuni (Finnish), si vous me permettez l’expression (French), pardonnez-moi l’expression (French), passez-moi l’expression (French), hogy ne mondjam (Hungarian), mówiąc bez ogródek (Polish)

Download JSON data for not to put too fine a point on it meaning in English (3.6kB)

{
  "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"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with placeholder \"it\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Amy Jenkins, chapter 4, in Honeymoon, London: Hodder & Stoughton; republished as Honeymoon (Flame), London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2001, 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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "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 entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English sentence adverbs",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with placeholder \"it\"",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Amy Jenkins, chapter 4, in Honeymoon, London: Hodder & Stoughton; republished as Honeymoon (Flame), London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2001, 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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "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"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.