- Meaning
- This idiom means to share gossip, secrets, or juicy information, often in a casual or dramatic way, as if spilling tea from a cup to reveal what’s inside. It conveys the act of disclosing intriguing or confidential details, typically used in social, pop culture, or informal contexts to describe lively or revelatory conversations. The phrase carries a tone of excitement, intimacy, or playful indiscretion, reflecting cultural values of social bonding through shared secrets and the human tendency to relish insider knowledge. Its tea imagery evokes a cozy, chatty setting, resonating in scenarios like friend groups or online forums. The idiom emphasizes the thrill of revelation, making it a vibrant metaphor for modern gossip culture, particularly in digital and youth slang.
- Origin
- The phrase originated in African American drag and ballroom culture in the 1980s and 1990s, where ‘tea’ was slang for gossip or truth, possibly derived from ‘T’ for truth. Its earliest recorded use appears in *Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil* (1994) by John Berendt, describing Southern drag performers ‘spilling the tea’ about local scandals. The idiom gained mainstream traction in the 2010s through reality TV, particularly *RuPaul’s Drag Race*, and social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok, where it became a staple of pop culture slang. Its spread was amplified by influencers and memes, with outlets like *BuzzFeed* using it in clickbait headlines. Its adoption across English-speaking cultures, especially in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, stems from its catchy rhythm and vivid imagery, cementing its place in modern vernacular.
- Variants
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- Spill the T
- Dish the tea
- Spilling the tea
- Examples
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- Come on, spill the tea—what happened at the party last night?
- She’s spilling the T about her coworker’s secret office romance.
- Dish the tea, girl, I want to know all about their breakup.
- Spilling the tea on social media got her a ton of followers.
- Spill the tea, who’s dating who in the friend group now?
- He spilled the tea about the company’s shady practices during the meeting.
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