Wiktionary

spill the beans

English

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Etymology

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First attested in 20th century American English. One possible origin for the phrase is from an Ancient Greek practice of using different-coloured beans for voting, where spilling the jar containing them would unwantedly reveal the results, though this might be folk etymology.[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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spill the beans (third-person singular simple present spills the beans, present participle spilling the beans, simple past and past participle spilled the beans or spilt the beans)

  1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To reveal a secret; to disclose information.
    Synonyms: let the cat out of the bag, spill one's guts, spill the tea
    They had planned it as a surprise party, but somebody spilled the beans.
    • 2008, Patricia Cornwell, Point Of Origin:
      I guarantee you, someone's going to spill the beans and next thing this shit's all over the news.
    • 2017, Wade Fowler, The Honey Trap:
      He accepted a contract to kill you and Frank DePalma. You because she couldn't be sure what Wennington had told you, and Frank because he got cold feet and was about to spill the beans.
    • April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair‎[1]:
      More unsettling was the origin story of the infamous tell-all book Princess in Love. Diana claimed to be outraged in 1994 when Daily Express journalist Anna Pasternak spilled the beans of her affair with former army officer James Hewitt […]
      adapted from the book The Palace Papers, published 2022 by Penguin Books
    • 2022, Spencer Coleman, Facade:
      Shall we meet up for a meal and I think I can be persuaded to spill the beans if I drink enough wine.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Gary Martin (1997–) “Spill the beans”, in The Phrase Finder.
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