a goldfish bowl

a goldfish bowl

A place, situation, or environment in which one has little or no privacy. A reference to the (typically) spherical bowls in which pet fish are often kept, which can be seen into from all sides. One of the prices of success for a pop star is having to live in a goldfish bowl under the scrutiny of the public eye. I feel like I'm in a goldfish bowl working at this new company, with all their security cameras posted everywhere.
See also: bowl, goldfish

goldfish bowl

A situation affording no privacy, as in Being in a goldfish bowl comes with the senator's job-there's no avoiding it. The glass bowl allowing one to view goldfish from every direction was transferred first, in the 1920s, to a police interrogation room equipped with a one-way mirror. By the mid-1900s the expression was being used more broadly.
See also: bowl, goldfish

goldfish bowl

a place or situation lacking privacy.
See also: bowl, goldfish
References in periodicals archive ?
They placed the fish in the usual plastic bag to carry home and I won a goldfish bowl as well in another event.
Fond memories of 1960s Easter fair
Caption: GOLDFISH LOVER--Two years ago, when President Rohani delivered his Now Ruz message, he quietly signaled where he stood on the controversial goldfish issure by placing a goldfish bowl on his Haft Seen table, but placing an orange inside the bowl
Setting goldfish free is a controversial issue in Iran
They work well in a goldfish bowl, jug type vase or just as they are.
The great Easter indoors and outdoors; Special feature
They work well in a goldfish bowl, jug-type vase or just as they are.
The great Easter indoors and outdoors; GET IN THE MOO OD FOR SOME EASTER ENJOYMENT
We all know what that is like, it is a goldfish bowl.
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It is the World Cup so you are in a goldfish bowl within a goldfish bowl.
Keep a rein on temper, duo told; Rugby Union
When I pointed out that we also didn't have a goldfish bowl she marched her father across the road to a pet shop where he bought the cheapest one he could find.
mum says
They say being a celebrity is like living in a goldfish bowl, so he's doing it literally.
FOR... TAXI
Footballers live in a goldfish bowl these days and the unscrupulous won't hesitate in making a fast buck at their expense.
Football: Jermaine Pennant
He said: 'The player's agent tells me that JJ is quite happy but feels like he's living in a goldfish bowl being a Newcastle player.
FOOTBALL: ROUND-UP Souness blasts Jenas rumours
It was a bit of a goldfish bowl, the life," he says of the closet at sea.
Gay in the Navy: openly gay troops who fought in the Iraqi war say they were accepted in their units. They wonder why the U.S. still has "don't ask, don't tell"
AMC Pacer: The car masquerading as a goldfish bowl, its unique bulbous glass rear end was a styling cue that was hard to miss.
Nerd cars capture special market. (Property/Casualty: Marketplace)
Being with the national team is a bit like being in a goldfish bowl but that hasn't put me off at all.
Going swimmingly for Upson
The 'entertainment' seems to consist of throwing a bunch of mismatched losers into a goldfish bowl and then tormenting them with cruel and unusual punishments before they face the cruelty of rejection.
RICHARD WILLIAMSON COLUMN: WHAT IS LOSERS' APPEAL?
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