behind someone's back
18
4.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
a las espaldas de alguien
- She made plans for the party behind her friend's back, hoping to surprise her.
- go behind someone's back
- talk behind someone's back
- want to go behind someone's back
Examples
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They discussed the changes to the project behind the manager's back to avoid her disapproval.
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And you carried on with him behind my back for 2 months.
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- Think you can go behind my back?
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Do not say it behind my back.
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You did that behind my back.
-
I said, "Have you been sleeping around behind my back?"
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You know, I'm trying to help you, but you just keep sneaking food behind my back.
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As many people have, we go behind our parents' backs and "do things we aren't supposed to be doing."
Blog text (10) -
Problem is, you've been asking questions behind my back, ain't you?
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I couldn't hear what you and your snotty little friends were saying about me behind my back?
Synonyms
261
1.4
In a way that other people do not know
112
4.1
In private and not open to the public
56
2.5
In a way other people do not know
17
6.9
In a secret way so other people do not know
17
8.3
To do something secretly to avoid being noticed
9
7.8
In a secret way so other people do not know
4
8.0
In a secret way to avoid being seen or found
2
4.9
In a secret way so other people do not notice
1
6.4
Happens very near someone when they do not notice
To act in a secret way so people do not notice you
Antonyms
How Secret
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'without someone’s knowledge' is directly and predictably built from 'behind' + 'someone's' + 'back' because the spatial image of being physically behind a person's back maps clearly to being out of their sight/knowledge. This spatial-to-social metaphor is cross-linguistically common and involves no deep idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Behind someone's back comes from the simple picture of someone standing at a person's back, where the person cannot see or hear what is done. So, if people act 'without someone's knowledge', they are doing things behind someone's back in a secret or unfair way.