Do it on the QT

[Harrison Hill]

"Do it on the QT" (cue-tee) means "do it without getting caught doing it". So you might do a bit of moonlighting "on the QT"; have some of your firm's goods away "on the QT"; rendezvous with somebody else's wife "on the qt" (my spell checker baulks at that last one).

If the internet is anything to go by it is little used; but I hear it pretty often. Presumably it is an abbreviation of "quiet"; but isn't it unusual for slang to abbreviate? Does anybody else use it other than BrE? Upper case or lower case?

[James Hogg]

Harrison Hill wrote:
> "Do it on the QT" (cue-tee) means "do it without getting caught doing it". So you might do a bit of moonlighting "on the QT"; have some of your firm's goods away "on the QT"; rendezvous with somebody else's wife "on the qt" (my spell checker baulks at that last one).
>
> If the internet is anything to go by it is little used; but I hear it pretty often. Presumably it is an abbreviation of "quiet"; but isn't it unusual for slang to abbreviate? Does anybody else use it other than BrE? Upper case or lower case?

The OED has US examples from 1952 and 1972.

The forms vary, q.t. being the oldest (and recommended by OUP), then
Q.T. and finally QT without points.

--
James

[Pablo]

Harrison Hill wrote:

> "Do it on the QT" (cue-tee) means "do it without getting caught doing it".
> So you might do a bit of moonlighting "on the QT"; have some of your
> firm's goods away "on the QT"; rendezvous with somebody else's wife "on
> the qt" (my spell checker baulks at that last one).

I remember hearing it in my (British) youth to mean "on the level" or
"legally".

"On the quiet" means secretly.

--
Pablo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wibbleypants/
http://paulc.es/

[Ian Noble]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:21:35 +0100, Pablo <no...@nowhere.net> wrote:

>Harrison Hill wrote:
>
>> "Do it on the QT" (cue-tee) means "do it without getting caught doing it".
>> So you might do a bit of moonlighting "on the QT"; have some of your
>> firm's goods away "on the QT"; rendezvous with somebody else's wife "on
>> the qt" (my spell checker baulks at that last one).
>
>I remember hearing it in my (British) youth to mean "on the level" or
>"legally".

No. On the level and on the QT are two quite different (indeed, often
opposite) things.

>"On the quiet" means secretly.

Indeed. "On the QT", as I recognise it, means under the radar.

Cheers - Ian
(BrE: Yorks., Hants.)

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

Agreed. Doing something "on the QT" does not necessarily mean that
something disreputable or dishonest is being done. The arrangements for
a surprise party could be done on the QT.

I don't thing I've heard the phrase used since sometime in the 20th
century. Of course it is possible that people have been using "on the
QT" on the QT, in which case I wouldn't have heard it.

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:16:27 +0000, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:

>I don't thing I've heard the phrase used since sometime in the 20th

Make "thing" "think".

I must have caught an infection from the "another thing coming" people,

[Frank S]

"Peter Duncanson [BrE]" <ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote in message
news:c1ckj8ldcfg1k1u45...@4ax.com...

> On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:16:27 +0000, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
> <ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>
>>I don't thing I've heard the phrase used since sometime in the 20th
>
> Make "thing" "think".
>
> I must have caught an infection from the "another thing coming"
> people,
>
>

No one will notice, if you keep it on the quietus.

--
Frank ess

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

It's a fair bit older than that:

I'm going to tell you something strictly on the q.t.

_The Rotarian_, September, 1912

Just here is where I must and we all as a people should give
Mr. Washington credit for working on teh Q.T. with the white
people to get the money and at the same time train hundreds and
thousands of Negroes to prepare themselves for the position of
social equality.

_The Crisis_, February, 1917

Please tell me on the Q-T how our club can win a $100 prize

_Boys' Life_, December, 1919

The earliest I see for "QT" is a 1931 copyright entry for a song
entitled "On the QT she's my cutie". I see "Q T" in _Boys' Life_ in
1944.

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
Still with HP Labs |The mystery of government is not how
SF Bay Area (1982-) |Washington works, but how to make it
Chicago (1964-1982) |stop.
| P.J. O'Rourke
evan.kir...@gmail.com

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

[Robert Bannister]

On 8/03/13 5:01 PM, Harrison Hill wrote:
> "Do it on the QT" (cue-tee) means "do it without getting caught doing it". So you might do a bit of moonlighting "on the QT"; have some of your firm's goods away "on the QT"; rendezvous with somebody else's wife "on the qt" (my spell checker baulks at that last one).
>
> If the internet is anything to go by it is little used; but I hear it pretty often. Presumably it is an abbreviation of "quiet"; but isn't it unusual for slang to abbreviate? Does anybody else use it other than BrE? Upper case or lower case?
>

It seems very old-fashioned to me. I don't remember hearing it since I
was at school.

--
Robert Bannister

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

Even older, from a poem called "Our Club List" (an enumeration of the
members of some club), dated October, 1892:

Q--on the Q-T, I find is quite blank

Michael Delvante, _Panama Songs_, 1906

Oh. Way older than that.

Straps. I wants a word with you, sir, on the Q.T.
Fitz. Q.T.; why what's that?
Straps. Lor, sir, didn't you larn that at Hoxford? Q.T.'s short
for quiet, sir.
Fitz. Well, then, short for quiet, speak out.

Walter Devereux, Whitty, "My Husband's
Secret", _The New York Drama_, 1875

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
Still with HP Labs |"Revolution" has many definitions.
SF Bay Area (1982-) |From the looks of this, I'd say
Chicago (1964-1982) |"going around in circles" comes
|closest to applying...
evan.kir...@gmail.com | Richard M. Hartman

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

[Peter Moylan]

On 09/03/13 05:39, Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
> On Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:16:27 +0000, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
> <ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>
>> I don't thing I've heard the phrase used since sometime in the 20th
>
> Make "thing" "think".
>
> I must have caught an infection from the "another thing coming" people,
>

For some reason I read that as "caught an inflection".

--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.

[Harrison Hill]

"On the QT" isn't really "secretly" in my understanding, and I agree with whoever proposed "under the radar" (above) as a better definition. Like a "surprise party" organised "on the QT" (also above), many people or most people can know about it; with just the one or two who are better off *not* knowing about it being kept in the dark.

I hear it frequently but maybe it is more prevalent in Estuary English.

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> writes:

> In message <khca1h$d27$2...@dont-email.me>

> James Hogg <Jas....@gOUTmail.com> wrote:

>> The forms vary, q.t. being the oldest (and recommended by OUP),
>> then Q.T. and finally QT without points.
>

> I am not sure that I've ever seen it written, other than in
> dialog. It is said, but I think "on the down-low" (and "on the DL")
> has mostly replaced it as most speakers seem to be unaware of the
> sexual origins of that phrase.

In the US, "on the DL" would be taken to mean "unavailable due to
injury or illness", from the professional baseball phrase "disabled
list". (If a team puts a player on the DL, they can add a replacement
player to their roster, but the injured player can't return for a
specific period of time.)

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
Still with HP Labs |When you rewrite a compiler from
SF Bay Area (1982-) |scratch, you sometimes fix things
Chicago (1964-1982) |you didn't know were broken.
| Larry Wall
evan.kir...@gmail.com

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> writes:

> In message <wqtgwl...@gmail.com>

> Evan Kirshenbaum <evan.kir...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> writes:
>
>>> In message <khca1h$d27$2...@dont-email.me>
>>> James Hogg <Jas....@gOUTmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>> The forms vary, q.t. being the oldest (and recommended by OUP),
>>>> then Q.T. and finally QT without points.
>>>
>>> I am not sure that I've ever seen it written, other than in
>>> dialog. It is said, but I think "on the down-low" (and "on the DL")
>>> has mostly replaced it as most speakers seem to be unaware of the
>>> sexual origins of that phrase.
>
>> In the US, "on the DL" would be taken to mean "unavailable due to
>> injury or illness", from the professional baseball phrase "disabled
>> list".
>

> Only if someone was already taling about baseball (or NFL football).

I think the NFL has "injured reserves" rather than players on the
disabled list.

> If you say "Keep it on the DL" that means keep it quite, not keep it
> injured.

I don't think I would understand that at all, and I'd probably guess
that it meant something like "It's not something we can use now, but
hold it in reserve for later."

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
Still with HP Labs |In the beginning, there were no
SF Bay Area (1982-) |reasons, there were only causes.
Chicago (1964-1982) | Daniel Dennet

evan.kir...@gmail.com

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

[Curlytop]

Evan Kirshenbaum set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time
continuum:

> Oh. Way older than that.
>
> Straps. I wants a word with you, sir, on the Q.T.
> Fitz. Q.T.; why what's that?
> Straps. Lor, sir, didn't you larn that at Hoxford? Q.T.'s short
> for quiet, sir.
> Fitz. Well, then, short for quiet, speak out.
>
> Walter Devereux, Whitty, "My Husband's
> Secret", _The New York Drama_, 1875

Presumably the expression was in regular use at Hoxford (wherever that is)
since some time earlier. Perhaps its use in the theatre in the late 19th
and early 20th century brought it into more general use.

I remember my mother using it to me, when a family surprise was being
planned, so meaning "don't tell anybody else about it"..
--
ξ: ) Proud to be curly

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