Quiz: "closet" or "cellar"?

The correct answer is:closet

"Politicians make mistakes, too — everyone has some skeletons in the closet."

If someone has skeletons in the closet, they have secrets about their past which they would not like other people to know.

have skeletons in the/one's closet = Leichen im Keller haben

In the age of Facebook and other social networking sites, people are often tempted to upload photographs of themselves in silly or compromising situations. Young people especially put up pictures of themselves drinking, dressing up or wearing very little clothing. In their later life, these pictures can cause them a lot of embarrassment, as candidates for last week's midterm elections in the US found out. The congressional candidate Krystal Ball of Virginia, for example, suddenly found six-year-old party pictures of herself circulating online. But Ms Ball says everyone makes mistakes when they are growing up. "I am not the only person with stupid photos out there, and I would hate to have some young man or young woman think, ‘I can’t run for office because I did something stupid at a party however long ago,'" she told The New York Times.

Having silly photos up on Facebook can also make it difficult for people to find jobs. Many employers have started looking up potential job candidates on Google and social networking sites. In a recent study, the University of Dayton found that 40 per cent of employers look at Facebook profiles as part of their hiring decisions.

The expression does not work with "cellar". However, apart from its literal meaning, "cellar" can also mean the last place or lowest level.

"We thought we were in the cellar, but they preferred our design over all other entries. We're signing the contract tomorrow."

be in the cellar = sich auf dem letzten Platz befinden