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Glite Dictionary
to get the goods on

to get the goods on

3 7.7
To find secret or harmful information about someone to use against them
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : sacar información
  • It hadn't taken Strange all that long to get the goods on Denice Simmons.

Examples

Synonyms

to dig up dirt
vsto get the goods on
  • Informal
9 6.5

Look for and tell secret or bad things about someone to harm them

targets incriminating information to use against someone beyond mere embarrassment
to get the goods
vsto get the goods on
  • Informal
1 6.9

To find proof that someone did something wrong

seeks such information mainly to use it against the person

Antonyms

to conceal
282 3.7

To hide something so others cannot see or find it

uninformed
42 3.7

Not knowing about a subject or situation

How Incriminating

to get the goods on
  • Informal
3 7.7
to expose
342 4.1
to find out
∞ 2.1
to hear
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

get the goods on infinitive
getting the goods on present participle
gets the goods on third person singular
got the goods on past
got the goods on past participle

Morphology

get + the + good + on

The verb 'get' (to obtain) and the preposition 'on' (about) are transparent, but 'goods' usually means products or items; here it is metaphorically extended to mean 'evidence' or 'incriminating information'. A B1 learner who knows the constituents might infer a general sense of 'obtain something about someone', but the specific sense 'obtain incriminating/revealing information' is idiomatic and not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Get the goods on comes from the picture of a detective who finds stolen goods or clear proof about a person. To get the goods on someone is to collect things you can use 'against them', so today it means 'to find damaging information about someone'.