1. straight from the shoulder 直截了當，一針見血

大約一百年前straight from the shoulder成為習慣用語，用來指直截了當、開誠布公的說話方式，而且這樣說話是不顧慮是否會傷害對方感情的。例如：

Boy, Nancy is sure mad at me! I told her straight from the shoulder this man she wants to marry is no good and she’d be making a terrible mistake. Now she won’t even speak to me.

唉，Nancy一定生我的氣了!我直截了當地對她說她想嫁的那人一無是處，她看錯了人。現在，她連理都不理我了。

2. pull no punches 直言相告

有時拳擊手會因為手骨受傷之類的原因不用力擊拳，這就叫做pull the punches，但是通常拳擊手在比賽時出拳一定會竭盡全力，那就是pull no punches。逐漸人們用pull no punches來比喻盡管忠言逆耳也毫無保留地說出實情。例如：

When I saw my brother Joe turning into an alcoholic, I pulled no punches -- I told him to think of his wife and kids, stop drinking and go out and find a job.

我看到我弟弟Joe成了個酒鬼，立刻毫不留情地正告他，要為妻子和孩子著想，讓他立刻戒酒并出去找個工作。

3. lay it on the line 把話放到桌面上

Lay it on the line可能是這樣，把一大筆賭注放在賭臺上，孤注一擲，盡其所有地做最后較量，就叫做lay it on the line，現在也可以當作“最后通牒、攤派”的意思來用。例如：

I’m fed up with George -- he doesn’t do half as much work as the others. So I called him in and laid it on the line -- either he starts doing his work like anybody else or we fire him at the end of the month.

我可受夠了George，他干的活還沒旁人一半多。所以我叫他來跟他把話都說明白了，要不跟別人一樣好好工作，要不就在月底走人。

4. let it all hang out 開誠布公，挑明

Hang是掛的意思，let it all hang out如果直譯就是“把什么都掛出來。” 換句話說就是“把什么都挑明了。例如：

We agreed to forget our feelings and let it all hang out. Susan told me everything she didn’t like about me and I told her what annoyed me about her. You know, it really cleared the air for both of us.

我倆同意心平氣和地把話都挑明了說。Susan說出了我所有那些讓她看不順眼的事情，而我也跟她講了她會令我不快的做法。知道嗎，這真的使我們之間的誤會煙消云散了。