to soft-pedal the issue
- phrasal verb
- /ˈsɔftˌpɛdəl ði ˈɪʃu/
:
minimizar el problema
- Instead of confronting the problem, she decided to soft-pedal the issue in her report.
Examples
-
Don't soft-pedal the issue any longer!
-
Politicians often soft-pedal the issue when it might cause public backlash.
-
The manager tried to soft-pedal the issue during the meeting to avoid upsetting the team.
-
The manager tends to soft-pedal the issue during meetings.
-
During the meeting, she chose to soft-pedal the issue of budget cuts to avoid upsetting the staff.
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He often tries to soft-pedal the issue when discussing his mistakes, hoping no one will notice.
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Instead of addressing the concerns head-on, the manager decided to soft-pedal the issue and focus on the positives.
Synonyms
59
5.3
Show something as less important or serious than it is
54
4.8
Make something seem less serious or important
22
6.5
Make a problem or mistake seem less serious by leaving out details
8
7.7
To hide a problem instead of dealing with it openly
6
5.3
Make something seem less important than it really is
3
7.6
To make a problem or bad news seem less important
1
6.0
To avoid answering a difficult question by changing the subject
1
6.8
To avoid talking about a difficult subject by giving vague answers
1
6.8
To avoid talking about a controversial issue on purpose
To hide problems or make them seem less serious
To ignore or hide problems instead of dealing with them
To avoid answering a question directly by being unclear
Antonyms
How Downplayed
Surface Forms
Morphology
soft-pedal + the + issue
The meaning 'to treat an issue as less important' is partly signalled by 'soft' (gentle/reduced) and the metaphorical sense of 'pedal' as controlling intensity, so a learner can sometimes infer 'downplay'. However, the compound verb is metaphorical and not fully compositional — many B1 learners who know the separate words would not reliably predict this specific idiomatic use without prior exposure.
Etymology
Soft-pedal the issue comes from pianos: pressing the soft pedal makes the sound softer and quieter, as if the music is being hidden. So to soft-pedal something is to make an issue seem less important or to avoid it, which is why it means 'to treat a problem or topic as less important than it really is'.