in so many words
Verbatim; using exactly the given words.
In so many words, he asked me to give him the answers to the test.
He said he liked you. At least, not in so many words, but that was the idea.
The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, 'Is there a meaning to music?' My answer would be, 'Yes.' And 'Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?' My answer to that would be, 'No.' Aaron Copland
They didn't say in so many words that I was as well as I would ever be, but that was the implication. Samuel Beckett
I didn't feel well, but they told me I was well enough. They didn't say in so many words that I was as well as I would ever be, but that was the implication. Samuel Beckett
He has said this in so many words a number of times in the ongoing debate about extremism vs. moderation etc. Source: Internet
I met up with a gentleman in the Latrobe Municipal Building who told me in so many words that he was entertained by that last minute comment. Source: Internet
On political activism in the evangelical ranks, Sheler is generally both irenic and agnostic in his analysis, suggesting that, in so many words, Christian activists have graduated from the “mosh pit” to the chessboard. Source: Internet