dirty linen
1
7.9
- noun
- Informal
:
trapos sucios
- Who else but A.J. has the testicular fortitude to display the government's dirty linen?
- airing dirty linen
- wash dirty linen
- dirty linen in public
Examples
-
Bloch said that behind the functional facade of nickel and glass, there is nothing but dirty linen.
Fiction book (1992) -
And if it involved members of one's immediate family, it was preferred to wash one's dirty linen in private.
Academic text (1994) -
We probably have to air our dirty linen just this one last time, and just between ourselves, before we face the day.
Fiction book (1998) -
As its general counsel, Heineman was the keeper of his company's secrets and was bound by law as well as loyalty and prudence not to reveal its dirty linen in public.
Academic text (2017) -
Though we suspect Madame of cheating, stockpiling a month's dirty linen, my mother always keeps her end to the letter, taking, indeed, open pleasure in Mr. Madame's shirts, of imported pima, soft as silk.
Fiction book (1991) -
Conserving the residential museum required a rigorous routine of waxing and dusting (whether performed by a maid or, in Dr. Farnsworth's case, by the owner herself) to eliminate any "dirty linen" that might be exposed by the glass walls.
Fiction book (1992) -
It's embarrassing to talk about family issues, so we try to keep our dirty linen private.
-
He advised his friends to settle their disputes quietly and not air their dirty linen in public.
-
In this neighborhood, everyone keeps their dirty linen within closed doors rather than gossiping openly.
Synonyms
135
4.8
Secret information that harms someone's reputation
22
5.3
Personal secrets that could cause embarrassment if made public
3
6.4
A secret from someone's past that can cause shame
Secret facts that could make someone look bad if people know them
An embarrassing secret from someone's past that they keep hidden
How Embarrassing
Surface Forms
Morphology
dirty + linen
Although 'dirty' and 'linen' have clear literal meanings (unclean and household fabric), the idiomatic sense of 'dirty linen' as private or embarrassing family matters is a metaphorical extension that is not directly derivable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would most likely interpret it literally (soiled fabric) and would not infer the idiomatic meaning without prior exposure, making it opaque.
Etymology
Dirty linen may come from the old image of people washing or hanging their dirty linen where neighbors could see them. If you revealed your dirty linen, you would show private, embarrassing things, so today dirty linen means 'private or embarrassing family matters'.