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skeleton in the closet

A shameful secret.
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"Humph!" she vouchsafed. Then, showing her old-time interest, she went on: "But, say, it is queer, his speakin' to you, honestly, Miss Pollyanna. He don't speak ter no one; and he lives all alone in a great big lovely house all full of jest grand things, they say. Some says he's crazy, and some jest cross; and some says he's got a skeleton in his closet."

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Submitted on July 10, 2018

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Un esqueleto en el armario

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to skeleton in the closet

come out of the closetbroom closetskeleton keybroom closetskeleton in the cupboardskeleton crewskeleton at the feastskeleton at the feastSkeleton in Your Closet

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Discuss this skeleton in the closet phrase with the community:

1 Comment
  • IzzyCohen
    IzzyCohen
    Skeleton in the closet. The English word secret was transliterated twice, first to Hebrew miSGeReT מִסג�
    ר�
    ת (framework, skeleton) and then to SaGaRT סָגַרְתְּ (shut, close, 2 Kings 4:4) or more likely SoGeReS umSooGeReS סֹג�
    ר�
    ת וּמְסֻגּ�
    ר�
    ת (shut up, Joshua 6:1) which together produce skeleton in the closet.

    Giving the gimel a K-sound and letting the resh rotate to L indicates that miSGeReT and SKeLeTon are cognates and that soGeReS and CLoSet are near homonyms with a semantic connection of “closure.” So it is difficult to tell if the 2nd instance was translated or transliterated to “closet.”     
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"skeleton in the closet." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/skeleton-in-the-closet_26493>.

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