fly on the wall

One who is able to observe something closely but invisibly and without interfering in the situation. I would love to be a fly on the wall in John's house when he finds out his wife bought a new car without telling him. I so wish I could be a fly on the wall at a glamorous event like the Oscars! Man, I wish I could be a fly on the wall in that meeting. I can't hear much of anything just eavesdropping out here!

See also: fly, on, wall

fly on the wall

An unseen observer or listener, as in I wish I could be a fly on the wall when she tells him she's pregnant. [Mid-1900s]

See also: fly, on, wall

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

a fly on the wall

COMMON If you would like to be a fly on the wall when a particular thing happens, you would like to secretly hear what is said or see what happens. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at their team meetings. What I'd give to be a fly on the wall when Draper finds out what's happened to his precious cargo! Note: You can use fly-on-the-wall to describe something such as a documentary film (= film about real people and events), where the makers of the film record everything that happens. For six months, a BBC film crew worked on a fly-on-the-wall documentary about their forthcoming marriage.

See also: fly, on, wall

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a fly on the wall

an unnoticed observer of a particular situation.

This expression is often used as an adjective, as in a fly-on-the-wall documentary , where it refers to a film-making technique in which events are merely observed and presented realistically with minimum interference, rather than acted out under direction.

See also: fly, on, wall

a fly on the ˈwall

a person who watches others without being noticed: I’d love to be a fly on the wall when the committee is discussing the report I wrote! ♢ fly-on-the-wall documentaries (= in which people are filmed going about their normal lives as if the camera were not there)

See also: fly, on, wall

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