Make no bones about it means 1.) to state something plainly, to speak frankly without holding back and with no equivocation 2.) to accept something without objection. Make no bones about it is an interesting and very old idiom. It goes back to fifteenth century England and finding bones in one’s soup. Bones in one’s soup makes the soup difficult to eat, and finding bones in it came to mean finding something objectionable in a situation. If one found no bones, then there was nothing objectionable in a situation. In time, make no bones about it came to mean to find no objections.
Examples
But let’s make no bones about it, unless we do something to improve this situation then the problem will continue to fester, crushing women’s confidence and our ability to be both caregiver and breadwinner. (The Telegraph)
I’ll make no bones about it, our season has been a failure. (The Irish News)
Scientists make no bones about Yukon fossil find, redraw camel’s family tree (The Globe and Mail)
Jones is keen to stress that this is a new era and that the October defeat has not be mentioned in camp but make no bones about it, Hartley and his predecessor Robshaw will raise it in his pre-match huddle. (The South Wales Argus)
Make no bones about it, Southern barbecue, done well, is one of the finest cuisines on earth. (The West Australian)
Make no bones about it, Saturday’s FA Trophy exit to Nantwich Town was bad but in my eyes, Tuesday’s defeat to Southport in the National League– a side that hadn’t won in seven games previously – was the worst result of the season by a country mile for Dover. (The Dover Express)