🗓️ Idiom: Keep Your Cards Close to Your Chest (v)
💬 Meaning
- To hide your plans, ideas, or intentions from others.
- To avoid sharing too much information in a negotiation or discussion.
🧠 Example Sentences
- During the merger talks, the CEO kept his cards close to his chest.
- She always keeps her cards close to her chest when discussing contracts.
- The company kept its cards close to its chest about the new product launch.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from card games, where holding your cards close to your chest prevents others from seeing them. It has been in use since the 19th century and became common in business to describe people who prefer to keep information private until the right moment.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The lawyer decided to __________ his cards close to his chest during the negotiations.
Answer
keep
2. Multiple choice:
What does “keep your cards close to your chest” mean?
a) To share all your plans openly
b) To hide your intentions
c) To play a card game carefully
Answer
b) To hide your intentions
3. Change the sentence using “keep your cards close to your chest”:
The manager did not reveal her real strategy during the meeting.
Answer
The manager kept her cards close to her chest during the meeting.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
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👉 Negotiation Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
