- Meaning
- This idiom means to reveal a secret or disclose confidential information, often unintentionally or under pressure, as if spilling beans from a container, exposing what was hidden. It conveys a breach of trust, carelessness, or the release of suppressed truth, commonly used in personal, professional, or social contexts to describe betrayals of confidence or unexpected revelations. The phrase carries a tone of surprise, mild reproach, or gossip, reflecting cultural values of discretion and the human tendency to share secrets. Its imagery, evoking scattered beans, adds a playful yet vivid layer, resonating in scenarios where hidden truths come to light. The idiom often implies consequences for the speaker or others, making it a lively metaphor for the fragility of secrets and the dynamics of trust.
- Origin
- The phrase likely originated in early 20th-century America, possibly from the slang of vaudeville or carnival circuits, where ‘spilling’ meant revealing tricks or secrets. A disputed theory links it to ancient Greek voting practices, where beans were used to cast secret ballots, and spilling them exposed the vote, though no direct evidence supports this. The idiom’s first clear use appears in 1919 in *The Chicago Tribune*, referring to a politician ‘spilling the beans’ about a scandal. It gained popularity in the 1920s and 1930s through American radio, film, and pulp fiction, notably in Dashiell Hammett’s *The Maltese Falcon* (1930). Its spread to British English occurred post-World War II via American media, and its catchy, informal tone ensured its adoption across English-speaking cultures, from casual conversations to journalism.
- Variants
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- Spill the beans
- Spilling the beans
- Spill those beans
- Let the beans spill
- Examples
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- Come on, spill the beans, who’s throwing the surprise party?
- Spilling the beans about the merger cost him his job at the firm.
- She spilled those beans to the press, exposing the company’s shady dealings.
- He let the beans spill during the meeting, revealing their secret strategy.
- Spill the beans, she urged, desperate to know why he’d been so secretive.
- By spilling the beans, he accidentally ruined the carefully planned proposal.
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