say the quiet part loud
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: says the quiet part loud
form: saying the quiet part loud
form: said the quiet part loud
form: said the quiet part loud
form: say the quiet part out loud
Etymology: Corpus searches seem to confirm that this phrase was absent from widespread usage until after the mid-1990s, when the cartoon character Krusty the Clown used a similar phrase in the episode "A Star Is Burns" of the American animated TV series The Simpsons, saying, "I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet."
Senses: examples: text: “Just what are you trying to say here, Miss Parker?”
“That you’re a jingoistic idiot.” Yeah, I said the quiet part loud. I blame the pain meds. But there‘s no way I was letting this metal-heavy moron lecture me about my duty to my country, without giving me the chance to make up my own mind.
ref: 2012, Dana Fredsti, Plague Town: An Ashley Parker Novel, Titan Books, chapt. 9
text: Santorum says that it’s not about contraception, it’s about any type of medical treatment. Which...seems to me like he’s saying the quiet part loud again! But yes, the Blunt Amendment would give any employer the right to withhold any type of medical care for any reason.
ref: 2012 March 4, Jason Linkins, “TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads”, in The Huffington Post, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2025:
text: Donald Trump is not subtle. While normal political language functions through implication and indirection, Mr. Trump luxuriates in saying the quiet part loud. But in doing so, Mr. Trump exposes what drives the politics of the movement he commands.
ref: 2018 March 17, Chris Hayes, “Chris Hayes: What ‘Law and Order’ Means to Trump”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2021:
text: “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” the president, Epstein’s sometime associate, infamously bragged, once again saying, with stunning efficiency, the quiet part loud.
ref: 2019 July 9, Megan Garber, “When Jeffrey Epstein Joked About Sex Abuse”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2019:
text: The popular Twitter meme that originated from reporter Jared Sexton after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out his Trump Tower meeting email exchanges has come to encapsulate the Trump era — a rare moment in our political history in which saying the quiet part out loud is a routine line of defense.
ref: 2019 October 3, Nicole Lafond, “Trump Keeps Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud — Ostensibly To Protect Himself”, in Talking Points Memo, archived from the original on 04 Oct 2019:
text: The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said that Ms. Steinbach had said the quiet part out loud, to chilling effect.
ref: 2023 April 9, Vimal Patel, “Stanford Law School’s Dean Takes a Stand for Free Speech. Will It Work?”, in The New York Times, New York City, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2023, retrieved 09 Apr 2023:
text: For years, he has inverted the politician’s playbook by saying the quiet part out loud and flaunting misconduct in public. When, in a 2016 presidential debate, Hillary Clinton accused him of dodging taxes, Trump retorted: “That makes me smart.”
ref: 2025 September 9, David Smith, “The president doth protest too much: Trump’s denial on Epstein is backfiring”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: To publicly express a sentiment which one is expected to keep to oneself; to reveal an ulterior motive.
wikipedia: A Star Is Burns
Krusty the Clown
The Simpsons
Related terms: on main