Would you tell me whether I am right about my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?
What remained was only a faint ugliness at the back of his mind, which he quickly suppressed and would soon bury completely. (A. J. Cronin, “The Keys of the Kingdom”)
I know every thought that goes on in the back of the boy’s head.
at (in) the back of one’s mind = in one’s subconscious
Thanks for your efforts.
It’s not really the subconscious. It’s something you are aware of but don’t actively think about.
The most common usage would mean something like, considering but so far you are not considering it seriously. It’s a possibility of something you might do some day but it’s not a high priority for now.
This is related to something you are toying with. This has almost the same meaning as back of my mind.
Another idiom is tickles my memory. This means that something triggers a vague memory.