mince one's words

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɪns wʌnz ˈwɜːdz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɪns wʌnz ˈwɜɹdz/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dz

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

1. Alternative form of mince words.
   • 1826, [Benjamin Disraeli], “The Receipt”, in Vivian Grey, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book II, page 100:

     My Lord, I must speak out. […] No thinking man can for a moment suppose, that your Lordship's heart is very warm in the cause of a party, which—for I will not mince my words—has betrayed you.

   • 1922 October, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “Part II. A Game of Chess.”, in The Waste Land, 1st book edition, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, published December 1922, →OCLC, pages 22–23, lines 139–141:

     When Lil's husband got demobbed, I said— / I didn't mince my words, I said to her myself, ⁠/ Hurry up please its time

   • [1927], A[rthur] J[ames] Cook, The Nine Days, London: […] [F]or A. J. Cook by the Co-operative Printing Society […], →OCLC, pages 18–19:

     Every one of my Committee felt proud of the determined stand of our President [Herbert Smith], who did not mince his words, but spoke straight and to the point.

   • 2022 November 23, Joseph Los’e, “Dame Naida Glavish doesn’t mince words about Erebus Memorial”, in Shayne Currie, editor, The New Zealand Herald‎^[1], Auckland: New Zealand Media and Entertainment, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 August 2023:

     Dame Naida Glavish did not mince her words when she addressed the newly elected Waitematā Local Board yesterday about the location of the National Erebus Memorial. Before a packed meeting, the fiery Dame said she supports a National Erebus Memorial – but just not in [the] proposed site of the Parnell Gardens, as it means destroying a Pohutukawa that has longer standing than the Treaty of Waitangi.