Skeleton In The Cupboard
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Skeleton In The Cupboard
OR:
Skeleton In The Cupboard on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Skeleton in the closet or skeleton in the cupboard is a colloquial phrase and
idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...
used to describe an undisclosed fact about someone which, if revealed, would damage perceptions of the person. It evokes the idea of someone having had a human corpse concealed in their home so long that all its flesh had decomposed to the bone. "Cupboard" may be used in British English instead of the American English word "closet". It is known to have been used as a phrase, at least as early as November 1816, in the monthly British journal ''
The Eclectic Review ''The Eclectic Review'' was a British periodical published monthly during the first half of the 19th century aimed at highly literate readers of all classes. Published between 1805 and 1868, it reviewed books in many fields, including literature, h ...
'', page 468. It is listed in both the Oxford English Dictionary, and Webster's Dictionary, under the word "skeleton". The "Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary" lists it under this but also as a separate idiom. In the most derisive of usage,
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
, or significant culpability in a years-old disappearance or non-understood event (a mystery), may be implied by the phrase.


See also

*
Closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...
, describing nondisclosure of sexual or gender identity * Elephant in the room, an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed *
Nigger in the woodpile ''Nigger in the woodpile'' or ''nigger in the fence'' is a figure of speech originating in the United States meaning "some fact of considerable importance that is not disclosed—something suspicious or wrong". Commonly used in the late 19th a ...
(archaic) means "some fact of considerable importance that is not disclosed—something suspicious or wrong"


References

{{reflist


External links

*http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/your-english/phrase-of-the-week/phrase-of-the-week-to-have-a-skeleton-in-the-cupboard/145671.article *http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/skeleton-in-the-closet.html English-language idioms Metaphors referring to people Metaphors referring to objects Secrecy Obfuscation