Yesterday I remembered the idiom that I learned from one of Alan?s topics. Beat about the bush! In my dictonary I found a translation for that idiom, that means act like a cat on the hot bricks! Now I wonder whether my dictionary might be wrong? I mean, straight translated into German language there is an idiom due to Alan?s that means provoking a reaction or to tell someone one?s opinion against what acting like a cat on the hot bricks more refers to not being straight on a goal or not to say what one want. :?
Let me try to elucidate. Behave/act/be like a cat on hot bricks means be in a very nervous or tense as if you are expecting to hear/learn about something imortant as in waiting for a letter telling you your exam results.
Beat about the bush is not to come to the point or to use another cat image -pussyfoot around. If someone is hesitating to tell you something that you want to hear, you could say: Stop beating about the bush and tell me what happened/Get to the point.
About my bush-expression, what I refered to with my bush idiom were possibly straight translated with knocking on the bush, what I understand to be very straight for learning the results of my exam, for instance. Is there an English idiom for such a behaviour?