Guilty secret

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Anonymous  #213218  Fri, 07 Apr 06 12:30 PM

Her guilty secret was a blight on her happiness.

(the guilty secret )what does it mean…(secret here is noun,adj,or what…)

 

thank you

  
nona the brit  #213221  Fri, 07 Apr 06 12:36 PM
Secret is a noun. Something she knows that other people don't know and that she wants to keep private. A guilty secret is one that makes you feel guilty/bad.
  
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The name says it all.
MrPedantic  #213388  Fri, 07 Apr 06 11:09 PM

It's an interesting example of a transferred epithet. As Nona says, the "guilty" relates to the person who has the secret: the "secret" itself isn't guilty.

MrP

  
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