To chew : v. tr. « To chew Is crushing with the teeth, by the movement of the jaws, before swallowing.
Chew everything: eat everything.
Chew empty: live from day to day.
To chew on someone's work, to prepare it for him / her, to facilitate him / her. You have to chew everything on him.
Do not mince words: tell someone bluntly what you think, speak rudely. Speaking with brutal frankness.
Speak out, call things by name, be straightforward (See below).
Chewing straw: pronouncing badly, speaking a harsh language: having a German accent, pronouncing French badly (said of Germans), speaking German.
Chewing gray: crushing black.
Chewing from above: eating without appetite.
Chew the pieces: prepare a job, do the most difficult of a job that another will complete.
Do not chew your pain: be effective.
Chewing chestnuts: hesitating while speaking, turning your tongue for a long time in your mouth
Chew on someone's work / chore: Prepare for work, serve someone directly or indirectly.
The expression "Don't mince words": Speak frankly - Express yourself bluntly. In the past, to chew wrote mascher. And in the XNUMXth century, already, do not querre maschier meant "not to seek to conceal, to say frankly" (quarrel being an old form of the verb fetch).
In the XNUMXth century, we can read the form I do not chew on his truths and in the XNUMXth century, the expression became do not chew always with the same meaning. It was only later that his words has been added.
The image is easy to understand.
If you let the words come out of your mouth like that, without taking the time to think about what you are going to say, your speech may be a little crude, perhaps hurtful, but it will have the merit of being frank.
Whereas if you “chew” the words a bit, chew them to the point of shaping them, modifying them, and refining your speech a bit, you are probably going to say less aggressive things and perhaps speak in a bit of a tone. more diplomatic and / or a little more hypocritical.