the bush telegraph

If you talk about the bush telegraph, you are talking about the way in which information or news can be passed on from person to person in conversation. This expression is used in British English.

No, you didn't tell me, but I heard it on the bush telegraph.

Jean-Michel had heard of our impending arrival in Conflans long before we got there. The bush telegraph on the waterways is extremely effective.

not beat around the bush

not beat about the bush

If you don't beat around the bush, you say what you want to say clearly and directly, without avoiding its unpleasant aspects. In British English, you can also say that you don't beat about the bush.

I decided not to beat around the bush. `I'm at I told her. didn't come back from his paper route yet. Nobody knows where he is.'

Let's not beat about the bush -- they rejected it. The Review Group said it was their most important single recommendation and the Government rejected it.