make no bones about

Language: en

Meaning: (idiomatic)Todo,indicate, orsaysomethingclearlyand withouthesitation, even if it may beunpleasant.[from 16th c.]Antonym:(dated)make bones about[1549February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as1548),Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon theGhospell of S. Luke. The fyrst Chapter.”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e.,Nicholas Udall], transl.,The First Tome or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente, London:[…]Edwarde Whitchurche,→OCLC,folio xxviii, recto:[B]earyng hymſelfe[Abraham]bolde vpon goddes promyſſe, hemade nomannerbonesne ſtickyng, but wente in hande to offer vp his onely ſonneIſaacin ſacrifyce,[…]]1571,John Calvin, “[Commentary onPsalm 73:8–9]”, inArthur Golding, transl.,The Psalmes of Dauid and Others. With M.Iohn Caluin’s Commentaries, London:[…]Thomas Eastand Henry Middelton; for Lucas Harison, and G[e]orge Byshop,→OCLC, 1st part,folio 275, verso, column 2:Therefore if any man alledge Gods power ageinſt thẽ[them], they bruſt through it boldly, & asfor mans hand, theymake no bones atit, & ſo their great talking tung ſtinteth for no ſtoppes, but walketh ouer all the whole earth.1608,[Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His Second Weeke,[…]. David.[…].]The Decay. The IIII. Book of the IIII. Day of the II. Week.”, inJosuah Sylvester, transl.,Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes[…], 3rd edition, London:[…]Humfrey Lownes[and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson[…]], published1611,→OCLC,page619:He (to beguile the ſimple)makes no bone/Toſvvear by God (for he beleeues ther's none); / His Svvord's his Title; and vvho ſcapes the ſame, / Shall haue a Piſtol, or a Poyſonie dram:[…]1869,R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter XI, inLorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor.[…], volume(please specify |volume=I to III), London:Sampson Low, Son, & Marston,[…],→OCLC:Tom Faggus was a jovial soul, if ever there has been one,not making bones oflittle things, nor caring to seek evil. There was about him such a love of genuine human nature, that if a traveller said a good thing, he would give him back his purse again.1797July 15 (first performance),George Colman [the Younger],The Heir at Law: A Comedy,[…], Dublin:[…]T. Burnside,[…], and George Folingsby,[…], published1798,→OCLC, Act I, scene i,page 7:Never ſpoke to him but once, in all my born life, upon electioneering matter—that's a time vvhen moſt of your proud folksmake no bones oftippling vvith a tallovv-chandler, in his back room, on a melting day:[…][1848November –1850December,William Makepeace Thackeray, “Temptation”, inThe History of Pendennis.[…], volume II, London:Bradbury and Evans,[…], published1850,→OCLC,page263:What's to prevent him from putting you or anybody else into his place if he likes? Do you think that the Government or the Opposition wouldmake any bones aboutaccepting the seat if he offered it to them?]1881–1882,Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Voyage”, inTreasure Island, London; Paris:Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883,→OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook),page82:The squiremade no bones aboutthe matter; he despised the captain.1900, Mrs. Lang [i.e.,Leonora Blanche Alleyne,et al.], “The Ogre”, inAndrew Lang, editor,The Grey Fairy Book, London; New York, N.Y.:Longmans, Green, and Co.[…],→OCLC,page348:When his master saw the lad returning in such a sorry plight, he understood at once what had happened to him, andmaking no bones aboutthe matter, he told Antonio what a fool he had been to allow himself to be so imposed upon by the landlord, and to let a worthless animal be palmed off on him instead of his magic donkey.1919,W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XII, inThe Moon and Sixpence,[New York, N.Y.]:Grosset & Dunlap Publishers[…],→OCLC:I was prepared to be persuasive, touching, and hortatory, admonitory and expostulating, if need be vituperative even, indignant and sarcastic; but what the devil does a mentor do when the sinnermakes no bones aboutconfessing his sin?1928,D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XIV, inLady Chatterley’s Lover,[Germany?]: Privately printed,→OCLC:Those other «pure» women had nearly taken all the balls out of me, but she was all right that way. She wanted me, andmade no bones aboutit. And I was as pleased as punch. That was what I wanted: a woman whowantedme to fuck her. So I fucked her like a good un.1932,Edgar Wallace,Merian C[aldwell] Cooper, novelization byDelos W[heeler] Lovelace, chapter 3, inKing Kong, trade softcover edition, Nevada City, Calif.: Underwood Books, published2005,→ISBN,page19:"I guess you don't think much of a woman on a ship do you?" / "Not to make any bones aboutit, she’s usually a cock-eyed pest."2002August 25, Kate Connolly, Amelia Hill, “Rattles[sic– meaningRattle]fires parting shot at Brit Art bratpack”, inAlan Rusbridger, editor,The Guardian‎[1], London:Guardian News & Media,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon15 August 2024:One of the Berlin Philharmonic's musicians, horn player Fergus McWilliam from Scotland, said: 'He[Simon Rattle]'s clearly seeing it as his life's work, he'smade no bones aboutthat. There is a heightened sense of anticipation among the musicians.'2005March 13, Denny Lee, “Neighborhood report: East Village—The chase: Looking for Mr. Right Now”, inThe New York Times(section 14)‎[2], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon12 January 2024, page10:Vince, a natty 23-year-old financial analyst from Hoboken,made no bones abouthis agenda. "I love it here, it's so whorish," he said.[…]"If you want to find sex, this is the place."

Examples:

EN: I make no bones about a thing like that.
ES: No tengo reparos a una cosa así.
EN: This once, I'm going to make no bones about things.
ES: Tanto mejor. No voy a andarme con rodeos. Tarde o temprano se iba a enterar.
EN: Those two make no bones about using your things, either.
ES: Estos no vacilan en usar tus cosas tampoco.
EN: I make no bones about it.
ES: No me ando con rodeos.
ES: - ¿Cómo? - Lo digo claramente.
ES: No tengo reparos. Me encantó hacer una de esas películas.
EN: I make no bones about that.
ES: No trato de ocultar esto.
EN: I am what I am. I make no bones about it.
ES: Soy lo que soy y no ando con rodeos.
EN: He won't make no bones about cuttin' your fine, long locks, neither.
ES: Y no le molestará cortarte esas mechas largas y bellas.
EN: I need my sleep, I make no bones about it.
ES: Necesito descansar, no pongo excusas.
EN: - And now for your cash, and make no bones about it.
ES: Ahora dame el dinero, y nada de tapujos.
EN: Look, Daffyd, I'll make no bones about it.
ES: Oye, Daffyd, no me iré por las ramas.
EN: Come, let's make no bones about it, eh?
ES: Venga, no le des más vueltas, eh?
EN: Come on, make no bones about it!
ES: - ¡Vamos, hombre!
EN: But make no bones about it.
ES: Pero no hay por qué ocultarlo.
EN: I'll make no bones about it, sure as I'm sittin' here
ES: No daré mas vueltas, tan seguro como estoy sentado aquí.
EN: So, make no bones about it, this morning's attack was a monstrous attempt at mass homicide.
ES: Bueno, no demos mas vueltas, el ataque de esta mañana fue un monstruoso intento de homicidio en masa.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).

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