Open secret

Open secret

An open secret is a concept or idea that is "officially" secret or restricted in knowledge, but is actually widely known; or refers to something which is widely known to be true, but which none of the people most intimately concerned are willing to categorically acknowledge in public.

Examples of military open secrets:

Area 51 Groom Road gate

The BT Tower, despite being a 177-metre (581 ft) tall structure in the middle of central London, was an official secret and did not appear on Ordnance Survey maps until it was officially revealed by Kate Hoey under parliamentary privilege in 1993.[1]

Kayfabe, or the presentation of professional wrestling as "real" or unscripted, is an open secret, kept displayed as legitimate within the confines of wrestling programs but openly acknowledged as predetermined by wrestlers and promoters in the context of interviews for decades.

An example of an open secret in politics is that it may be widely known that an individual government minister holds a particular opinion, but is at present unable to express that opinion publicly because it is contrary to the formally expressed view of the government of which he or she is a member.

The Stig

In television, the primary real-world identity of The Stig, a costumed and masked television test-driver used by BBC Television for Top Gear, was an open secret until the unofficial embargo was broken by a newspaper in 2009.[2]

References

  1. ^ Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 1993-02-19, column 634.
  2. ^ Foster, Patrick (2009-01-19). "Identity of Top Gear's The Stig revealed as Ben Collins". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article5548705.ece. Retrieved 2009-01-19. "The identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme." 

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • open secret — open secrets N COUNT If you refer to something as an open secret, you mean that it is supposed to be a secret, but many people know about it. It s an open secret that the security service bugged telephones …   English dictionary

  • open secret — An open secret is something that is supposed to be secret but is common knowledge …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • open secret — noun count something that should be secret but is not because a lot of people know about it …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • open secret — ► NOUN ▪ a supposed secret that is in fact known to many people …   English terms dictionary

  • open secret — n. something supposed to be secret but known to almost everyone …   English World dictionary

  • open secret — {n.} Something that is supposed to be a secret but that everyone knows. * /It is an open secret that Mary and John are engaged./ * /Who will be appointed as the next president of the college is an open secret./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • open secret — {n.} Something that is supposed to be a secret but that everyone knows. * /It is an open secret that Mary and John are engaged./ * /Who will be appointed as the next president of the college is an open secret./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • open secret — noun something that is supposed to be secret but is generally known their love affair was an open secret • Hypernyms: ↑secret * * * noun, pl ⋯ crets [count] : something that many people know about but that is supposed to be a secret It s an open… …   Useful english dictionary

  • open secret — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms open secret : singular open secret plural open secrets something that should be secret but is not because a lot of people know about it …   English dictionary

  • open\ secret — noun Something that is supposed to be a secret but that everyone knows. It is an open secret that Mary and John are engaged. Who will be appointed as the next president of the college is an open secret …   Словарь американских идиом

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