"Not to put too fine a point on it"

I use not to put too fine a point on it ironically because in addition to being blunt I make a number of statements to illustrate the point and will provide a number of examples. I have always felt that the statement not to put too fine a point on it includes being blunt and also brief in your statement and I am usually not brief. In short I am making a little fun of myself for being so loquacious

The literal meaning is lost to the mists of time, but speculation as to the origin of the current figurative use is possible by reference either to a quill pen (though there are no reliable sources to support this), or by reference to a sharp pencil as used in drawing (again, there are no sources to support this).

However, from the Oxford dictionary, the phrase means:

To speak bluntly

and the entry continues "figuratively, with reference to the sharpening of a weapon, tool, etc.".

No one seems to know exactly what the literal meaning of the words is. That meaning has been lost in time. It's just a fixed expression these days.

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/09/fine-tuning-2.html http://throwgrammarfromthetrain.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/dickenss-fine-point.html

It seems that the language is figurative. A fine point, whatever that is, is the opposite of something that is blunt. So, not to put a fine point on something is to be blunt, and in fact you can just say it like that:

To be blunt, she said you sexually harassed her.
To put it bluntly, she said you sexually harassed her.

I would say it like that personally.

It doesn't mean used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making.

It means that without going into the specific details of the event, I'll shortly paraphrase what she said.

So to put a fine point on it, would include saying how the person sexually harassed her. For example, she said you touched her inappropriately on the chest.