dirty linen

dirty linen

One's personal, intimate, or private matters or secrets, especially that which may be embarrassing if made public. From the expression "don't wash/air your dirty linen in public." Those who consider running for public office must be aware that their dirty linen is likely to be exposed to the public. David is such a gossip, always talking about other people's dirty linen.
See also: dirty, linen
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

dirty linen

and dirty laundry
n. scandal; unpleasant private matters. I wish you wouldn’t put our dirty linen out for everyone to see. She seems always to drag out her dirty linen whenever possible.
See also: dirty, linen
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • air (one's) dirty laundry in public
  • air (one's) dirty linen in public
  • air dirty linen in public
  • unburden
  • unburden (oneself) to (someone)
  • unburden oneself to
  • unbosom
  • unbosom (oneself) to (someone)
  • unbosom oneself to
  • have intimate relations with (one)
References in periodicals archive
"Indeed far too much dirty linen has been exposed to the public gaze.
This was leaked and thus an engineered backlash followed but, to make it clear, Mr Tan certainly was not washing any dirty linen in public.
'These clever vehicles will deliver and collect around 3,600 meal trays, hundreds of clean and dirty linen items and other waste from around the hospital,' said RNSH General Manager Sue Shilbury.
I can't help wondering whether this very public airing of dirty linen, though wonderfully cleansing for the individuals concerned, only runs the risk of adding insult to injury to those who have been wronged.
The team of machines will transport waste and dirty linen, deliver food and dispense drugs at the new Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert, Stirlingshire.
What, however, is much more annoying is that we are washing our dirty linen in public again - how the hell do we hope to win inward investment when anyone coming in wants certainty and sure footed, well thought out policy, not this constant shooting from the holster, straight into the foot!
The story is supposed to be happening in the present day, yet it is hard for me to believe families with a dying parent would not have hospice care, and that they would be treating cancer as "dirty linen" not to be discussed in public.
I can't tell you what a kick I got out of seeing all that dirty linen aired in St Louis after these decades had passed.
FA BOSS Brian Barwick last night spoke out against Liverpool's co-owners washing their dirty linen in public, writes TOM LATCHEM.
I'm growing bored of the double standards and hypocrisy of the constant calls for dirty linen not to be washed in public, only to open my paper on a seemingly daily basis to have it all bought back into the news by the antics of these socalled fans.
In 2001, William Easterly, one of the World Bank's top economists, exposed some of the institution's dirty linen in his book, The Elusive Quest for Growth.
It stated: "We do not air our dirty linen in public, we deal with problem issues quietly and without fuss."
The baby's body was missing for two to three days when it was accidentally taken away with the dirty linen from the Royal Women's Hospital in Victoria.
Professor Shamlan al-Issa of Kuwait University agreed with the assessment of an Arab foreign minister quoting him as saying that the report was an "exposure of the ourah, [the shame] of the Arabs [and a] washing of our dirty linen" in public.
But what if it is not a conspiracy to hide their dirty linen but the result of an astonishing naivety in the church hierarchy?