To do or say something without hesitation, formality, or evasion. This saying is so old that its original meaning has been lost. Nicholas Udall used it in Apothegms from Erasmus (1548): “He made no manier bones ne stickyng, but went in hande to offer up his ownly son” (he made no bones about sacrificing his only son). One writer suggests it comes from a diner who makes no fuss if he encounters bones in his food. Others relate it to dice, so called because they were originally made from bones, and suggest it meant simply throwing the dice without making any prior fuss about it.