"skeletons in your closet"?

Question

Is there a way to say the phrase "skeletons in your closet" (as in dark secrets) in Spanish, but that is translated pretty directly?

Please fill out your profile so as we may better help you . Welcome to the forum . Buena suerte amigo. - ray76, Jun 23, 2014

Answer 1

El diccionario sugiere "un secreto vergonzoso" pero esto no tiene el mismo imagen que quieres.

Según Linguee (mi traductora favorita) algunos han usado la frase "esqueleto en el armario" pero esto probablemente solo tiene sentido para personas bilingues que sean familiares con la frase en inglés.

Sorry I should say all this in English. My brain has been in Spanish mode. Um, the dictionary says "un secreto vergonzoso" but that just means a shameful secret. Linguee (the best translator ever for language nerds) shows some websites have used "esqueleto en el armario," but I doubt this would make much sense to people who have little knowledge of English, unless of course the person really does have a skeleton en the closet.

:) - FELIZ77, Jun 24, 2014

¡Me encanta Linguee! Cabe señalar que Linguee no es un traductor automático, sino un buscador de traducciones. :) - NikkiLR, Jun 24, 2014

Answer 2

It could well be regional but apparently in Argentina at least they use ... tener un muerto en el ropero/armario.

Answer 3

Hello, Cumali,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

"skeletons in your closet"?

You asked,

Is there a way to say the phrase "skeletons in your closet" (as in dark secrets) in Spanish, but that is translated pretty directly?

I have just found this sentence in my Oxford Spanish Dictionary (4th edn)

She found several skeletons in the family cupboard = Encontró que la familia tenía unos cuantos trapos sucios que ocultar.

It also gives the expression out of context as:

A skeleton in someone's closet / cupboard = Un secreto vergonzoso que se intenta mantener oculto

(Literally: A shamful (or embarrassing) secret that one intends / you intend to keep hidden.)

I hope this helps