wall of silence

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

wall of silence (plural walls of silence)

1. (idiomatic) Strict secretiveness maintained by the members of a group with respect to information which might be contrary to their interests, especially information concerning questionable actions by members of the group.
   • 1981 Aug 6, “Rebel with a Cause: The real-life story of an anti-Mafia activist in Sicily makes for a handsome film with a political message,” Time:

     That makes his struggle with the culture of omertà, the wall of silence that allowed the Mafia to prevail for decades, all the more poignant.

   • 1994 May 15, James Sterngold, "Japanese Begin to Crack the Wall Of Secrecy Around Official Acts," New York Times (retrieved 10 Aug 2012):

     Her parents sought the official report on the incident, but they have run into a wall of silence.

   • 2010 March 9, Melissa Eddy and Alessandra Rizzo, "Pope's brother: I ignored physical abuse reports," Businessweek (retrieved 11 Aug 2012):

     German justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, said Monday that a Vatican secrecy rule has played a role in a "wall of silence" surrounding sexual abuse of children.

Usage notes

• Although this collocation was used in late-19th- and early-20th-century literature, the precise meanings of those early usages varied. In general, the term denoted some real or figurative barrier to communication, as represented by the following examples.

Examples of early usages of wall of silence

• 1887, Edward Payson Roe, The Earth Trembled, ch. 5:

"Will you be fair enough to listen to me? . . . Hitherto you have opposed to me a dead wall of silence."

• 1912, Edith Wharton, The Reef, ch. 38:

[S]he saw between them the same insurmountable wall of silence as between herself and Owen, a wall of glass through which they could watch each other's faintest motions but which no sound could ever traverse.

• 1914, B. M. Bower, The Ranch at the Wolverine, ch. 17:

Until distance and the intervening hills set a wall of silence between, Ward heard Buck screaming in fear of death.

• 1918, Willa Cather, My Antonia, ch. 15:

[G]randfather was naturally taciturn, and Jake and Otto were often so tired after supper that I used to feel as if I were surrounded by a wall of silence.

• 1918, Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons, ch. 31:

[H]e knew that . . . his mother, if she still lived in spirit, would be weeping on the other side of the wall of silence, weeping and seeking for some gate to let her through so that she could come and "watch over him."

Synonyms

• code of silence, conspiracy of silence

Derived terms

• blue wall of silence

See also

• omertà
• silent treatment

References

• “wall of silence”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.