Backroom boy In english explanation

The meaning, explanation, definition and origin of the idiom/phrase "Backroom boy", English Idiom Dictionary ( also found in Vietnamese )

author Tommy Tran calendar 2021-02-02 08:02

Meaning of Backroom boy

Synonyms:

brain truster , boffin

Backroom boy British noun phrase informal

Someone who plays an important or crucial role in an organization without public awareness.

We should pay more appreciation to the backroom boys for all the work they've done.

Thanks to the backroom boys, the company was saved from bankruptcy.

Other phrases about:

guilty secret

A thing is known about by only a few people and kept hidden from others because it makes somebody feel ashamed.

be in cahoots

To be secretly working together

take (one) behind the woodshed

To secretly punish or rebuke someone for doing something.

like a thief in the night

Used to indicate the way someone does or something happens is secretive and quick

who shall remain nameless

Used to talk about someone without mentioning their name.

Origin of Backroom boy

Backroom boys in World War II. (Image Source: WGBH)

The phrase originally referred to the scientists, researchers, and technicians working anonymously behind the scenes in the UK during World War II. It appeared in a speech by Lord Beaverbrook in March 1941:

"Now who is responsible for this work of development on which so much depends? To whom must the praise be given? To the boys in the back rooms. They do not sit in the limelight. But they are the men who do all the work. Many of them are Civil Servants."

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TODAY
to rob the cradle
have a romantic or sexual relationship with or marry someone much younger than oneself.
Example: The middle aged man robbed the cradle with the teenager.
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