🗓️ Idiom: Keep up Appearances (v)
💬 Meaning
- To maintain an image of compliance or success, even if things are not going well.
- To behave as if everything is normal or correct, often to avoid criticism or suspicion.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The company was more focused on keeping up appearances than actually meeting compliance standards.
- During the audit, the manager tried keeping up appearances by showing a spotless office, but the files were disorganized.
- Some firms only keep up appearances to satisfy regulators, without truly following the rules.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from social customs, where people would act in ways that looked proper or respectable, even if the reality was different. It has since been used more broadly, especially in business or compliance, to describe people or organisations that focus on appearances rather than real substance.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The firm was more interested in __________ than actually fixing the compliance issues.
Answer
keeping up appearances
2. Choose the correct meaning of “keeping up appearances”:
A) Hiding success to avoid envy
B) Making things look better than they are to avoid criticism
C) Changing procedures to meet new standards
Answer
B) Making things look better than they are to avoid criticism
3. Change the sentence using “keeping up appearances”:
“The company made everything look perfect during the inspection, but the problems were still there.”
Answer
The company kept up appearances during the inspection.
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