Dictionary

on the Q.T. en · ADP

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Slang for "on the quiet," attested from 1874.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) Quietly; in a secretive manner; clandestinely.
   • “This is hush-hush,” Mr. Fleischer recalled Mr. Libby as saying in effect. “This is on the Q.T. Not many people know about this.” 2007 January 29, David Stout, “Ex-Bush Aide Contradicts Libby on C.I.A. Agent”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 Aug 2010:
   • Will you be so kind as to impress him with the fact that this expedition is on the Q.T.? Not that I think he will say anythin'. 1910, Harold MacGrath, chapter 12, in A Splendid Hazard:
   • Now, what I want is a camp tender to stay in the main camp, where the Forest Service says. But the herder is gonna pitch a pup tent on the Q.T. with the sheep and he's gonna sleep there. 2005, 00:05:05 from the start, in Brokeback Mountain:
   • All kind of places are good for ads ... Got fellows to stick them up or stick himself for that matter on the q.t. running in to loosen a button. Fly by night. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 8: Lestrygonians]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:
   • You heard it first here, dear readers... off the record, "on the Q.T.", and very Hush Hush. 1997, LA Confidential:
   • But most are cozy affairs, kept strictly on the Q.T. Nothing is done in writing—no invitations, no tickets, just quiet phone calls. 1962 August 28, Jack Anderson, “Lobbyists Moan Over ‘Shakedown’”, in Sarasota Journal, USA, retrieved 25 Aug 2010, page 6:
   • [R]ound up some of our friends on the q.t. Don't let Brill get a notion of what's in the air. 1911, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 24, in Mavericks:

Forms

Translations (9)

es como quien no quiere la cosa (secretly) · es de extranjis (secretly) · es por lo bajini (secretly) · ru тайко́м (secretly) · es de tapadillo (secretly) · es a cencerros tapados (secretly) · es a hurtadillas (secretly) · pl ukradkiem (secretly) · es a la chita callando (secretly)