backroom meeting
- noun
- Literature
:
reunión a puerta cerrada
- The politicians held a backroom meeting to discuss the controversial legislation away from the public eye.
Examples
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Many important decisions are made during backroom meetings, where officials can speak freely without media scrutiny.
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Do you remember that backroom meeting between Obama and Bonehead over the debt ceiling?
Blog text (5) -
The CEO decided to call a backroom meeting to address the company's financial issues discreetly with select board members.
Synonyms
15
8.6
A secret meeting where people decide important things
8
5.5
A part of a meeting that is not open to the public
4
7.6
A private meeting of a board or committee to discuss confidential matters
1
6.6
A secret meeting held in private to hide plans, often for illegal reasons
1
9.9
A small group that secretly makes important decisions that are not fair
A private talk in which people make an agreement, often by politicians or business leaders
How Private
Surface Forms
Morphology
backroom + meeting
The phrase literally evokes a meeting held in a 'back room', so a learner who knows 'back', 'room' and 'meeting' can infer that it is private or away from the public. However, the conventionalized sense of secretive, behind‑the‑scenes negotiation is somewhat idiomatic and culturally specific, so the full implicature is not completely predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Backroom meeting comes from the picture of people gathering in a small backroom for a meeting away from the public to talk quietly and decide things without others knowing. So, it now means a 'private' or 'secret' discussion where important decisions are made.