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Glite Dictionary
to keep it in the family

to keep it in the family

4 7.1
To not tell people outside the family about important things
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : mantenerlo en la familia
  • want to keep it in the family
  • just keep it in the family

Examples

  • The judge, however, wanted Ray to take the house and keep it in the family.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I want to keep it in the family.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Seems like they like to keep it in the family.

    Blog text (20)

  • Or would you keep your mouth shut and just ask some close friends or relatives to help and keep it in the family?

    Blog text (2)

  • I said there's nothing wrong with incest, so long as you keep it in the family.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • We should discuss this matter privately and keep it in the family.

  • To avoid any misunderstandings, let's keep it in the family and not tell outsiders.

  • Whenever there is a family issue, we always try to keep it in the family for everyone's benefit.

Synonyms

to keep one's mouth shut
vsto keep it in the family
  • Informal
116 5.6

To say nothing to avoid trouble or keep a secret

is about sharing only inside a close group rather than staying silent everywhere
to keep quiet
vsto keep it in the family
90 2.5

To say nothing or not tell a secret

chooses to keep matters within a close inner group instead of general silence
to keep a secret
vsto keep it in the family
76 2.6

To not tell anyone private information

limits sharing to a close inner group rather than to anyone outside
to keep mum
vsto keep it in the family
  • Informal
3 7.5

Stay quiet about something private

focuses on limiting news to a close inner group rather than broad silence

Antonyms

to broadcast
81 3.0

To make news or information known to many people

How Private

to keep it in the family
  • Informal
4 7.1
to share
711 1.0
to publicize
94 4.0

Surface Forms

keep it in the family infinitive
keeping it in the family present participle
keeps it in the family third person singular
kept it in the family past
kept it in the family past participle

Morphology

keep + it + in + the + family

The meaning is directly built from 'keep' (to retain) plus the locative phrase 'in the family' (within family boundaries), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it means to retain/keep something private among family members. This compositional pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically familiar, so it should be comprehensible to a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

Keep it in the family comes from the plain image of sharing news, a recipe, or a business only among relatives. If you keep something 'in the family', you do not tell outsiders, so it now means 'to keep private' within close relatives.