on the Q.T.

Idioms  

1. Secretly, as in They told her on the Q.T. that she was being promoted. This slangy term, in which Q.T. is an abbreviation for “quiet,” was first recorded in 1884.

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Example Sentences

Now we aren't bullies, and perhaps, had you comforted your friend on the Q.T., and been copped doing so, we'd have let you off.

From Tell England A Study in a Generation by Raymond, Ernest

"Putting on all they can on the Q.T.," was the response.

From Malcolm Sage, Detective by Jenkins, Herbert George

Will you be so kind as to impress him with the fact that this expedition is on the Q.T.?

From A Splendid Hazard by MacGrath, Harold

Then he went upstairs on the Q.T. and had a cup of coffee.

From A Bed of Roses by George, Walter Lionel

He's tired of skulking and wants me to sell that house his mother left him, strictly on the Q.T.

From The Desire of the Moth; and the Come On by Rhodes, Eugene Manlove

Related Words

• buried
• clandestine
• concealed
• covered
• covert
• dark
• invisible
• latent
• mysterious
• obscure
• private
• secluded
• underground
• undisclosed
• unknown