The origin of the idiom "keep a lid on something" stems from the literal usage of lids on containers in the late 19th/early 20th century, as it was common practice to use tight-fitting lids to prevent contents from being spilled or seen. This simple act of securing a lid came to represent concealing what was inside in a metaphorical sense, and one of the earliest figurative usages referred to keeping secrets "under wraps" with a "tight lid," which then developed into newspaper uses by the 1900s employing the phrase such as "keeping a lid on the scandal" to denote suppressing details and maintaining secrecy about a covert matter. It is commonly invoked legally to suppress unflattering evidence or privately settled allegations.

What is the origin of the idiom "keep a lid on something" and when to use it?

164b2e1bbee636025e4fc6e1c2f8889958a2100fcc7a9cd9c5140885385f708c

to [keep] a lid on {sth}

https://tts.langeek.co/read?text=dG8ga2VlcCBhIGxpZCBvbiBzb21ldGhpbmc&hash=47387a26a3adea4b8b9c07775e6e391555497e07&lang=en&cache-only=0&driver=googletts&accent=US

https://tts.langeek.co/read?text=dG8ga2VlcCBhIGxpZCBvbiBzb21ldGhpbmc&hash=1294136c5db148e3094f7bd6ac02f49e1389aaba&lang=en&cache-only=0&driver=googletts&accent=GB

Définition et signification de « keep a lid on something » en anglais

Download Mobile App