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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

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

Criswell has done so ever since, skillfully blending humor, homely anecdote, snippets of poetry, and straight-from-the-shoulder Biblical literalism.

From Time Magazine Archive

Kinmond asked straight-from-the-shoulder questions and often got surprisingly frank replies from English-speaking guides and government officials.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Indian emissaries got plenty of straight-from-the-shoulder advice in Washington and New York.

From Time Magazine Archive

Like a mouse one minute, and then this straight-from-the-shoulder business….

From Night Must Fall : a Play in Three Acts by Williams, Emlyn

“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

Natural attitude for a man meaning to let out straight from the shoulder at another is to sit down with back turned towards intended victim.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, August 12th 1893 by Various