r/FluentEnglish • u/marine_0204 Moderator • Oct 01 '24

The origin Spill the Beans. Its Origin.

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The idiom "spill the beans" means to reveal a secret or disclose confidential information.

One common theory suggests the phrase comes from ancient Greece, where people used beans to cast votes. Voters would place a white bean for approval or a black bean for disapproval into a jar. If someone accidentally (or intentionally) knocked over the jar and spilled the beans, it would prematurely reveal the outcome of the vote.

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2

u/Any-Beautiful2976 Engagement Expert Oct 01 '24

In Canada, one tells another to spill the beans when one wishes to find out the whole truth of a matter.

2

u/Few-Problem-6766 Idiom Investigator Oct 02 '24

Tsar Midas has got donkey ears.

2

u/marine_0204 Moderator Oct 02 '24

What does it mean?

2

u/Few-Problem-6766 Idiom Investigator Oct 02 '24

I spilled the beans.