on the Q.T.

• on the qt, on the QT, on the q.t.

Slang for "on the quiet," attested from 1874.

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on the Q.T.

1. (idiomatic) Quietly; in a secretive manner; clandestinely.
   • 1910, Harold MacGrath, chapter 12, in A Splendid Hazard:

     Will you be so kind as to impress him with the fact that this expedition is on the Q.T.? Not that I think he will say anythin'.

   • 1911, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 24, in Mavericks:

     [R]ound up some of our friends on the q.t. Don't let Brill get a notion of what's in the air.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 8: Lestrygonians]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     All kind of places are good for ads ... Got fellows to stick them up or stick himself for that matter on the q.t. running in to loosen a button. Fly by night.

   • 1962 August 28, Jack Anderson, “Lobbyists Moan Over ‘Shakedown’”, in Sarasota Journal, USA, retrieved 25 Aug. 2010, page 6:

     But most are cozy affairs, kept strictly on the Q.T. Nothing is done in writing—no invitations, no tickets, just quiet phone calls.

   • 1997, LA Confidential:

     You heard it first here, dear readers... off the record, "on the Q.T.", and very Hush Hush.

   • 2005, 00:05:05 from the start, in Brokeback Mountain:

     Now, what I want is a camp tender to stay in the main camp, where the Forest Service says. But the herder is gonna pitch a pup tent on the Q.T. with the sheep and he's gonna sleep there.

   • 2007 January 29, David Stout, “Ex-Bush Aide Contradicts Libby on C.I.A. Agent”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 Aug. 2010:

     “This is hush-hush,” Mr. Fleischer recalled Mr. Libby as saying in effect. “This is on the Q.T. Not many people know about this.”