say the quiet part loud

Meanings

1. To willingly express a sentiment that is normally considered embarrassing or disreputable to hold; to reveal an ulterior motive.

Etymology

Corpus searches seem to confirm that this phrase was absent from widespread usage until after the mid-1990s, when the cartoon character Krusty the Clown used a similar phrase in the episode "A Star Is Burns" of the American animated TV series The Simpsons, saying, "I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet."