the.com/hidden agenda
The real meeting happening silently inside the meeting you're in.
means An ulterior motive someone is quietly pursuing while appearing to go along with the stated purpose of a discussion or deal.
from Straightforward compound rather than an ancient coinage: 'agenda' comes from Latin, the plural of 'agendum' — 'thing to be done' — originally the literal list of items for a meeting. 'Hidden' just does its plain English job. The phrase caught on in 20th-century political and corporate speech, growing teeth as organizations got large enough to need official agendas — and sly enough to need unofficial ones too.
- tell
- generosity that arrives suspiciously well-timed
- irony
- denying one is agenda item zero
- office version
- cc'ing the boss for visibility, not clarity
- best defense
- ask what they gain, not what they say