metaphor.
To open a company's accounting books for inspection; to expose something previously hidden.
Example Citation:
"Public companies also have much stricter rules of disclosure to potential investors. The company founder who used to keep his yearly salary a tight secret must reveal all when he goes public.
'You have to be prepared to open the kimono,' Meyers said."
— George Hostetter, "Going public: Rewarding, dangerous," The Fresno Bee
Related Words:
Categories:
Open the kimono is also an idiomatic probably came from the arrival of Japanese companies in capital of U.S. companies in the 80s. This reproduced the image of the Japanese wife opening her kimono to reveal her naked body to her husband, at a time when U.S. companies were forced to open their account books to their new Japanese partners.
New words. 2013.