# What is the exact meaning of "to calculate under the carpet"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2014, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965 "2014-11-07T10:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/1 "2014-11-07T10:00:34Z")
Hi What is the exact meaning of “to calculate something under the carpet”? I’m not sure if it means to 1. make a back-of- the- envelope calculation??? 2. make an inexact calculation (possibly hide some aspects of the calculation because it doesn’t square up evenly)?? I look forward to your feedback. davidmich ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/2 "2014-11-07T10:13:26Z")
Do you have an actual example of usage? Google only shows me discussions of real estate and how “[carpet area](http://ritusays.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/what-is-covered-area-carpet-area-built-up-area-and-super-built-up-area-in-a-hous/)” is the usable area of a house, as opposed to covered area, built-up area, and super built up area. I’ve never heard the expression myself. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/3 "2014-11-07T10:26:31Z")
Context please. I am fairly well read and have never heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/4 "2014-11-07T10:52:11Z")
Can’t remember where I read it, but it went something like “He did a quick calculation under the carpet”. (I know it wasn’t physically under the carpet.). Whoever he was was making a quick calculation. I will search for the exact quote. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/5 "2014-11-07T10:53:37Z")
I believe it was Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Checking now. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/6 "2014-11-07T11:27:34Z")
stalin did a lot of riding of magic carpets (according to Catriona Kelly, “Riding the Magic Carpet: Children and the Leader Cult in the Stalin Era”, The Slavic and East European Journal 49 (2005): ) and sweeping stuff under it…but calculating under it ? His calculations were more plotting and threatening. Determination can have the meaning of _calculation_ but can also mean tenaciousness. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/7 "2014-11-07T12:27:45Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > I believe it was Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Checking now. Maybe it’s a Russian idiom that was translated from something. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/8 "2014-11-07T12:31:22Z")
The way it was used was like “brush something under the carpet” as in explain away discrepancies. ---
**Author:** ![Fishtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed655f/32.png) [@Fishtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishtar)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/9 "2014-11-07T12:45:19Z")
When you have to clean a house quick, because the relatives are coming, sometimes you don’t have time to sweep so good. So you lift up the carpet and sweep all the filth underneath. Basically, hide all the problems then pretend everything is great. [http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/sweep\_something\_under\_the\_rug](http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/sweep_something_under_the_rug) ---
**Author:** ![Fishtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed655f/32.png) [@Fishtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishtar)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/10 "2014-11-07T12:49:01Z")
When you have to clean a house quick, because the relatives are coming, sometimes you don’t have time to sweep so good. So you lift up the carpet and sweep all the filth underneath. Basically, hide all the embarrassing problems and pretend everything is great. > **[Synonyms of sweep under rug | Thesaurus.com](https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/sweep%20under%20rug)** > > Synonyms for sweep under rug from Thesaurus.com, the world’s leading online source for synonyms, antonyms, and more. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/11 "2014-11-07T13:54:05Z")
I would have to see the context, but is there any chance that “calculations” is being used as a synonym for “plotting” or “machinations”, making the phrase mean something like “behind the scenes plotting”? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/12 "2014-11-07T14:40:18Z")
According to Google Books, the word carpet does not appear in “Young Stalin.” It’s not foolproof, but a similar search suggests the word Lenin appears 80 times. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/13 "2014-11-07T14:53:09Z")
Duplicate post. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/14 "2014-11-07T14:55:48Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > I would have to see the context, but is there any chance that “calculations” is being used as a synonym for “plotting” or “machinations”, making the phrase mean something like “behind the scenes plotting”? This was my thinking, and would seem to make more sense under its own context. Like, “He designed his evil plans in secret.” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/15 "2014-11-07T23:49:09Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Can’t remember where I read it, but it went something like “He did a quick calculation under the carpet”. (I know it wasn’t physically under the carpet.). Whoever he was was making a quick calculation. I will search for the exact quote. This is not a standard English idiom. I strongly suspect you are misremembering whatever you read. As others have pointed out, to “sweep something under the carpet” _is_ a common idiom. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/16 "2014-11-08T02:47:31Z")
No. I actually wrote it down. I only remember hat the context was in reference to some mathematical calculation but I can’t remember the exact source of the phrase. I had never come across it before but it struck me as similar to brushing something under the carpet. I will do my best to find the source and return to it later. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/17 "2014-11-08T03:51:16Z")
Well, it is still not a regular idiom. I suppose it may be an intentional bit of wordplay, playing with the “brush/sweep under the carpet” idiom. Like most of these of these things, it is impossible to really know what might have been meant without context. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/18 "2014-11-08T03:59:44Z")
I agree. I read the phrase over and over because it was odd. I wrote it down to get back to it later. I suspected it was a wordplay on “sweeping something under the carpet”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/19 "2014-11-08T10:01:15Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > The way it was used was like “brush something under the carpet” as in explain away discrepancies. It sounds like it’s variation on that idiom - that is, to dismiss or hide something (brush it under the carpet) by means of obfuscated calculation (sometimes known as ‘creative accounting’). ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965/20 "2014-11-09T11:04:47Z")
Good point Mangetout. Thank you. Thank you all davidmich [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-exact-meaning-of-to-calculate-under-the-carpet/703965.md?page=2)