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Reader question: Please explain the following sentence and “sweep-it-under-the-carpet ways” in particular: Federal judges across the country are telling the new Attorney General, Eric Holder, that they want to see a clean break with the sweep-it-under-the-carpet ways of his predecessors. My comments: Eric Holder is the new Attorney General. Attorney Generals before him used to avoid dealing with difficult issues – that was their way of dealing with them. Federal judges across the country are now telling the new Attorney General: Don’t be like your predecessors. Don’t hide issues as your predecessors did. In other words, don’t shy away from dealing with difficult issues. Tackle them head-on. “Sweep it under the carpet” is an idiom derived from house cleaning. To sweep something dirty under the carpet is to hide it under the carpet, so that it won’t be seen, rather than pick it up and throw it in the dustbin. The consequence of this practice is convenience (avoidance of any hard work) for the short term but in the long run, someone’s going to feel lumps underfoot when they walk on the rug. And sooner or later (sooner rather than later, I am afraid) the carpet, along with the whole room, is going to stink. Anyways, figuratively speaking anything swept under the carpet is some embarrassing issue that you don’t want others to know about. The New York Times (August 30, 2007), for example, titled one of its editorials on the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers thus: Abu Ghraib Swept Under the Carpet. | 
