Steer clear of

Question

Her speech steered clear of controversial issues.

From the dictionary, "steer clear of" means "to avoid someone or something which seems unpleasant, risky or dangerous"

But I wonder if the sentence means "He failed to talk about the controversial issues in her speech"
Or "He talked about the controversial issues in a soothing manner and thus he calm down the situation".

Avangi · Accepted Answer

I think "her speech" refers here to an oral presentation which she delivered. I'm not sure who "he" is.

If she steered clear of controversial issues (or her address did), she completely avoided making any mention of items which could lead to some sort of disagreement.

(avoided them - not soft-pedalled them)

<< He failed to talk about the controversial issues in her speech >>

There were no controversial issues in her speech.

It sounds as if you think some guy was discussing her speech after she made it.
But that's not what your excerpt says.

Do you understand what it means to "make a speech"??

Her speech is funny. (She talks funny/weird.)

Her speech was funny. (When she delivered her address to the audience, she told jokes and made them laugh.)

I suppose without context, "Her speech steered clear of controversial issues" could mean, "Whenever she spoke to anyone, she made it a point never to say anything controversial."

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