YouTube / iTunes / Spotify / Radio Public / Pocket Casts / Google Podcasts / Breaker / Overcast
Listen to ArtisanEnglish.jp posts & lesson intros here.
Phrase: Behind closed doors
Many things go on behind closed doors, and the first thing that may have come to your mind is not what this phrase means.
I want to quote the former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau.
This quote is from 1967, when he was Justice Minister and before he became Prime Minister.
At that time, the Canadian government decriminalized homosexual acts, and Trudeau said, “There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”
Likewise, there is no place for ArtisanEnglish.jp in the bedrooms of English language students.
The phrase behind closed doors refers to things happening secretly without the public knowing about them.
There are thousands of things that take place behind closed doors.
Illegal dealings such as price-fixing, money laundering or illicit gambling happen without the public or the law knowing about them.
I mean, if you’re going to do something illegal and you’re smart about it, you’re not going to broadcast it on Facebook Live, are you?
Some people do, and they usually get in trouble for it.
I remember a guy in Kobe who filmed himself driving his Ferrari at insane speeds on the highway.
He included scenes of his car leaving his underground parking garage.
The police tracked him down.
I’m not saying he could drive his Ferrari behind closed doors, but he didn’t have to post it online.
Many other legal things happen behind closed doors, such as secret government meetings or company meetings where new products, projects or strategies are discussed.
In most cases, these things will be made known publicly eventually, but before everything is completed or decided, they remain off-limits to the public.
So there you have it.
Some things which happen behind closed doors are none of our business.
Some things are hidden because they are illegal; still, others are kept secret for a short time but will eventually become public knowledge.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 64.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.