break it (to someone) gently, to

break it (to someone) gently, to

To reveal bad news in a calm, soothing fashion. “With a design to break the matter gently to his partners,” wrote John Arbuthnot in 1712. In time the verb to break in the sense of “to tell” incorporated the idea of “gently,” making the cliché a tautology.
See also: break
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • ease in
  • cross over
  • face off
  • face-off
  • answer to
  • bag it
  • bag someone
  • bagged
  • bagging
  • going to