Under The Rose

[Paul Kedrosky]

On 17 Jun 96 at 0:53, Michael Scotton wrote:

> Incidentally, the phrase 'sub rosa' is often associated with intelligence
> activity, which - as we learn in the next paragraph - is also the occupation
> of Geli's boyfriend Tchitcherine...

If this hasn't already been said, my (compressed) OED says:

sub rosa: (of communication, consultation, etc.) in secrecy or confidence (L, 
lit. "under the rose," as emblem of secrecy

Hmmm. That's not much help. We're back where we started. The more interesting 
question is why is "under the rose" an emblem of secrecy. 

Paul
pkedrosk at sms.ivey.uwo.ca
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