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On Words Unravelled, @jesszafarris.com and I discussed the origins of "to beat around the bush". It relates to the practice of shaking a bush in order to scare animals out into the open (in order to shoot them), and I've just stumbled across this vivid reference of the process from 1672.

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In German, the same practice has led to a slightly different turn of phrase, "auf den Busch klopfen" (to best the bush directly), which means "to provoke someone verbally (with an appeal, a remark, an insult, etc...) and then watch for the result".