no sugarcoating
1
6.3
- idiom
:
sin adornos
- There's no sugarcoating it; if you can look at the costs and results of other democratic countries' healthcare systems and still believe that too much regulation is the problem, you're too stupid for politics and should probably stick to collecting Pokémon cards.
Examples
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Let's be brief, because there's no sugarcoating it - WSU's gimmick is the persona of its new head coach.
Blog text (21) -
His friends, his teammates, fans all call him 'Sweetness' but there is no sugarcoating the fact that Payton is now facing the challenge of his life.
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There is no sugarcoating one of the worst football programs in the history of football.
Blog text (29) -
There's simply no sugarcoating it.
Blog text (17) -
There's no sugarcoating the fact that the project failed to meet its goals.
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In this review, there's really no sugarcoating the issues with the film's plot.
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When it comes to criticism, I believe in sugarcoating nothing; honesty is the best policy.
Antonyms
How Tactful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a direct negation of the verb 'sugarcoat' (to make something seem more pleasant), so 'no sugarcoating' literally means there is no attempt to make the situation seem better — a B1 learner who knows both constituents can derive this meaning. The structure is a straightforward nouning/negation of a transparent metaphorical verb and this compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically, supporting full transparency.
Etymology
No sugarcoating comes from the image of covering food with sugar as a coating to hide a bad taste. So when someone says no sugarcoating, they mean they will not hide the truth or make it 'pleasant'.