What’s “behind closed doors”?

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“Behind closed doors” is a phrase used to denote secrecy or privacy. It usually refers to a meeting or discussion that occurs between a select group of people who do not share the conversation with anyone outside the group. While the sentence may actually occur in a room with a closed door, no such physical reality is required. The phrase can easily refer to private telephone conversations or electronic communications.

In a government context, for example, meetings not open to the public may be said to be held in camera or may be called closed meetings. The phrase can also be used to describe a meeting or conversation closed to the media. Other examples include meetings for which there is no formal documentation and business meetings that are not open to all employees. Quite often, the details of such meetings are not disclosed outside the group, although the decisions that are made may be.

It is important to note that the use of this phrase in connection with a meeting or conversation, especially in a corporate or government setting, implies intentional exclusion. For example, a buying agent might lock her office door when meeting a salesperson, simply to ensure silence or to make sure she doesn’t disturb others around her. While they technically meet behind a closed door, this does not reflect the connotation of the phrase because its intent is not to prevent others from overhearing the conversation or learning the details of any ongoing arrangements.

While the phrase is often used to imply that the participants are trying to hide something that shouldn’t be hidden, conversations and meetings can take place behind closed doors for a variety of reasons, many of which are legitimate. For example, the police may question a witness behind closed doors both to protect the identity of the witness and to keep the information they provide secure. Similarly, a manager might conduct a performance review or discuss an employee’s inability to perform in a closed-door meeting because it’s good business practice to keep such conversations private.

Another common use of the phrase “behind closed doors” is to indicate that an individual’s behavior and attitude are drastically different in private than in public. For example, an individual might appear generous and accommodating in public but actually be an aggressive tyrant at home. Another person might be confident and outgoing at parties but experience anxiety and insecurity in private.

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