Abstract
HE ADJECTIVAL USE of closet to distinguish between that which is public and that which is private is nearly four centuries old, as the following citation indicates: There are stage-sins and there are closet-sins (OED, s.v. 11, 1612-15; here and following, italics have been added to mark the forms discussed). The use of closet to refer to persons who are secret 'adherents to a doctrine or practicers of a behavior' (American Speech 44 [1969]: 239) may be nearly two centuries old; for Pederson (1974, p. 133) has suggested thatJefferson's 1815 statement (cited in the OED) Closet politicians merely, unpracticed in the knowledge of men, is an example of such usage. Whatever its vintage may be, the use of closet as an adjective meaning 'being so in private, secret' (6,000 Words, 1976) is quite common today. In contemporary use, closet is often associated with deviant sexual behavior, as illustrated by the following dialogue between Murray, Bunker's partner, and Fred, the waiter, as they discussed a customer's homosexuality on an episode of Archie Bunker's Place (broadcast on CBS, 10 Feb. 1980):
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