mince words

• mince matters

From mince (“to say or utter vaguely (not directly or frankly)”, transitive figurative verb) +‎ words.^[1] First attested in the mid-1500s.

• enPR: mĭns′ wûrdz′
• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪns ˈwɜːdz/

  Audio (General Australian):

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• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪns ˈwɜɹdz/

  Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌməns ˈwøːdz/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪns ˈwʌɹdz/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˌmɪns ˈwəːʳɖz/
• Hyphenation: mince words

mince words (third-person singular simple present minces words, present participle mincing words, simple past and past participle minced words)

1. (intransitive, chiefly in the negative, idiomatic) To restrain oneself when speaking by withholding some comments or using euphemisms in order to be polite, tactful, etc.

   Synonym: mince matters

   Near-synonym: pull punches

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:mince words.

• Usually used in the negative. Hence, not mince words means to be blunt, straightforward, or plainspoken.

• mince one's words

• minced oath
• mince matters
• word-mincer

• make no bones about
• weigh one's words

• Christine Ammer (2013), “mince matters”, in American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, second edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 295, column 1.