Does anyone know what this phrase means?

"Brutally honest" is similar, that is, a person who will say what they think even if it is unkind.

It means to go all out, not hold anything back. Try your hardest, don't hesitate.

It stems from boxing and the literal meaning is not to put all strength into your punches.

HI,
I agree with your answers before mine. It also means, sometimes, not telling the truth or being honest; such as in Political campaigns.
For example, some get very "dirty" with mudslinging, and "twisting" the truth; especially in local elections.
So, in this context, "don't pull any punches" means to tell little "white lies" to try getting elected. It also could mean telling the truth in an election.
I do wish you the best.

Agree with those before.

Don't pull any punches didn't make the list that I could tell (though roll w the punches did), but here is an interesting link that has lots of common phrases and the origins.

http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOrigins.htm

I've done some research on this phrase and I can find no reference to it ever being used to mean "little white lies" or anything close to that. Nor have I ever heard it used in that context.

All the research and contexts I could find show it to mean being totally honest when giving an opinion about something. Not to hold back.

HI,
The answer before this one said he had never heard of this phrase being used in this manner.
I have.
One of the local political campaigns got to the point that one particular campaign manager said to his people, "Don't pull any punches" with the next TV ad. Then, "do whatever it takes".
That particular TV campaign really got "dirty" with insults back and forth, with things said from one candidate about another that were not true! Some of it was later retracted; some not.
Different phrases have different meanings, when used in different types of context. So, I disagree with part of the previous answer. Just because someone has not heard a particular "meaning" of a phrase used, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It may not be the "major" meaning of the phrase, but nonetheless, it still exists.

Fred,
From your accounting of the incident, it does not appear you are interpreting it correctly. You seem to drawing a cause and effect relationship between what the campaign manager said and the results shown in the ads.

I maintain that the campaign manager used the term in its real meaning of don't hold anything back. The later phrase of "do whatever it takes" would give the campaign workers carte blanche to get down and dirty, not the earlier phrase. I see no reason to attribute the meaning you gave to the phrase.

While its true that words and phrases can have different meaning in different contexts and to different people, there is also generally accepted meanings. Our mission, on a site like this, is to give the most accurate advice we can to the askers. Citing one experience, especially one which seems to have been misinterpreted, is not being fair to the asker, IMHO. That's why I challenged your answer here.

I also agree that just because I never heard the phrase used in that context, doesn't mean it hasn't been. That's why I did some research first. When my research turned up no usage remotely like that and the only usage I found was almost opposite it, I felt that I had to challenge. I don't believe your explanation shows the phrase being used to mean anything but "don't hold back".

"to pull no punches" or "don't pull any punches" -

This is a boxing term. When you pull a punch, you pull back or hold back, so that your punch doesn't land with all possible force. The transferred meaning of the phrase is similar. If you criticize, but politely and as painlessly as you can, watering your criticism down, you are pulling your punch or punches. But if you really blast someone, you're pulling no punches.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_b...sages/595.html

To "pull" a punch means to use less than full force - as if the puncher "pulled back" their punch.

To say to somebody "Don't pull any punches!" is a way of saying that the person has been overly direct and perhaps too rude in how they have expressed themselves.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_b...sages/716.html

There's a song by Van Morrison called "You Don't Pull No Punches But You Don't Push The River". Apparently it uses to proverbs. "To pull punches" has been explained here before, the term is originally from boxing. But what does the latter part, "to push the river", mean? Doing useless job, like carrying coals to Newcastle (or owls to Athens), perhaps?

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_b...ages/1160.html

http://www.phrases.org.uk/