open and aboveboard

Idioms  

1. Also, honest and aboveboard. Candid and fair, without deceit or trickery, as in I'll join you, but only if everything remains open and aboveboard. Both versions of this expression are redundancies, since they use open and aboveboard in the sense of “honest.” The latter word, dating from the early 1600s, comes from gambling and alludes to the fact that card players who do not keep their hands on the table (board) may be suspected of changing their cards under the table.

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Example Sentences

Shaw’s lawyer Stanley L. Friedman said the financial transactions were open and aboveboard.

From Los Angeles Times

And for parts of the past century, wealthy players were restrained, however imperfectly, by campaign finance laws aimed at keeping the process open and aboveboard.

From New York Times

No one is cheated here; everything open and aboveboard.

From Project Gutenberg

A snake is open and aboveboard beside a cat.

From Project Gutenberg

This court," he told stale lawyers, "upheld that statute on the representation of the state of Florida that this was an open and aboveboard proceeding.

From Time Magazine Archive