AIR ONE'S DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC

= wash one's dirty linen in public {v. phr.} To talk about your private quarrels or disgraces where others can hear; make public something embarrassing that should be kept secret. * /Everyone in the school knew that the superintendent and the principal were angry with each other because they aired their dirty linen in public./ * /No one knew that the boys' mother was a drug addict, because the family did not wash its dirty linen in public./