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• straight-from-the-shoulder
  straight-from-the-shoulder

  adjective

  direct, honest, and forceful in expression; outspoken.
• straight from the shoulder
  straight from the shoulder

  In a direct, forthright manner, as in I'll tell you, straight from the shoulder, that you'll have to do better or they'll fire you. This expression comes from boxing, where it describes a blow delivered with full force. Its figurative use dates from the late 1800s.

straight-from-the-shoulder

American  

[streyt-fruhm-thuh-shohl-der] / ˈstreɪt frəm ðəˈʃoʊl dər /

adjective

1. direct, honest, and forceful in expression; outspoken.

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straight from the shoulder Idioms  

1. In a direct, forthright manner, as in I'll tell you, straight from the shoulder, that you'll have to do better or they'll fire you. This expression comes from boxing, where it describes a blow delivered with full force. Its figurative use dates from the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

straight-from-the-shoulder straight from the shoulder

Last week Major General Francis H. Griswold, Third Air Force commander, dropped in by plane at nine of the 16 major U.S. air bases to give his men a straight-from-the-shoulder talk.

From Time Magazine Archive

Nixon went out of his way for straight-from-the-shoulder talk in Uruguay.

From Time Magazine Archive

The straight-from-the-shoulder talk was clearly aimed not only at U.J.A. leaders but at President Carter, whom Dayan portrayed throughout the trip as well-intentioned but naive.

From Time Magazine Archive

The straight-from-the-shoulder facts last week were that, even in a still tight auto market, Kaisers and Frazers were not selling too well.

From Time Magazine Archive

They were straight-from-the-shoulder remarks, or, as he called them, they were “brass tacks.”

From The Mutiny of the Elsinore by Jack London

“The president speaks directly and candidly — straight from the shoulder, as he often says,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.

From Washington Post ● May 24, 2022

In politics, and in every kind of relationship, Dad believed in dealing straight from the shoulder whenever possible.

From Time Magazine Archive

To his fellow Americans he spoke straight from the shoulder.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the Manhattan editorial office of McClure's Magazine, one day in 1902, Samuel Sidney McClure gave his goateed managing editor a jolt straight from the shoulder.

From Time Magazine Archive

He advanced straight upon Richmond, made several feints, and then landed a blow straight from the shoulder, at the same time parrying the cross-counter which the lad came near getting in on the face.

From The Telegraph Messenger Boy The Straight Road to Success by Edward Sylvester Ellis