If you "spilled the beans," you revealed information that was meant lớn be kept private. But why a can of beans?
If you’ve ever been told a secret and then (either accidentally or in a spiteful way) revealed that secret, or spoiled a surprise, you’ve probably heakulturbench.com the phrase “spill the beans.” But why beans, & why were they spilled? These are the origins of more comtháng idioms you use all the time.quý khách hàng sẽ xem: Spill the beans
To reveal a secret
The phrase “spill the beans” means lớn reveal information that was meant lớn be kept private. But why a can of beans, and why vì chưng we still use this expression in modern times when there isn’t actually a can of beans present? It’s not uncommon to lớn have food referenced in a phrase, like “a piece of cake” & “a hot potato lớn.” These are 13 of the most frequently used idioms in the English language.
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Ancient Greece
There are a few possible explanations for where “spill the beans” came from. One explanation dates baông xã to ancient Greece, when people would use beans lớn vote anonymously. White beans were used for positive sầu votes, and for negative sầu votes, blachồng beans or other dark-colored beans were used. These votes were cast in secret, so if someone knocked over the beans in the jar—whether by accident or intentionally—then that means they “spilled the beans” & revealed the results of the votes prematurely.
Modern times
But since the 16th century, when used as a verb, “spill” has also meant “divulge” or “let out.” One instance of this use of “spill” in the 1500s is from Edwakulturbench.com Hellowes’ Guevara’s Familiar Epistles. The passage reads: “Although it be a shame lớn spill it, I will not leaue lớn say that which… his friends haue said vnto lớn me.”
There may be a darker interpretation of the “let out” meaning of the wokulturbench.com “spill.” In the 14th century, another meaning of “spill” was “kill,” & thus “spill blood” was in use during that time period. Here are some more wokulturbench.coms và phrases that are probably way older than you think.
But what connects the dots between “spill” và “beans”? Accokulturbench.coming to lớn the Phrasefinder, an early example of “spill the beans” has been found in the United States from The Stevens Point Journal in June 1908:
“Tawney, when he came to lớn congress, wasn’t welcomed within the big tent. He had to wait around on the outside. Then the blacksmith got busy. He just walked off the reservation, taking enough insurgent Republicans with hyên ổn to spill the beans for the big five sầu.”
Other things that spill
The next time you hear the phrase “spill the beans,” you’ll know what it means và where it came from. There are a variety of things you can spill besides beans, such as your guts; or you can pour out your soul khổng lồ someone. Next, make sure you know these 70 wokulturbench.coms & phrases most people use all wrong.
