backstairs

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 18, 2014 is: backstairs • \BAK-stairz\  • adjective : secret, furtive; also : sordid, scandalous Examples: The article accuses the influential Washington lobbyist of having been involved in a number of backstairs deals to limit regulation of financial institutions. "During the protracted balloting-it went four rounds before Jackson was declared the winner-backstairs talks began, aimed at stopping Jackson, according to operatives." -Jeff E. Schapiro, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), May 22, 2013 Did you know? When Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, wrote in 1654 about leading someone "down a back-stairs," he wasn’t referring to anything scandalous. He simply meant "down a secondary set of stairs at the back of a house." Just over a decade earlier, however, Boyle’s contemporary, Sir Edward Dering, had used the phrase "going up the back-stairs" in a figurative way to suggest a means of approach that was not entirely honest and upfront. The figurative use likely arose from the simple notion that the stairs at the rear of a building are less visible and thus allow for a certain degree of sneakiness. By 1663, "backstairs" was also being used adjectivally to describe something done furtively, often with an underhanded or sinister connotation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.