keep one's own counsel



keep one's own counsel

Say little or nothing about one's opinions or intentions. For example, Betty is notorious for keeping her own counsel; you never know what she really thinks. This expression employs counsel in the sense of "a secret," a usage dating from about 1300.
See also: counsel, keep, own

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Law-Medieval English
Mariele-German
Benton[ben'tən]
CandiKAN-deeEnglish
Winfred['winfrid]
Drorit-Hebrew