View Full Version : Let the cat out of the bag/Spill the beans


poli
June 30, 2008, 12:20 PM
Significa: Revelar un secreto.(let the cat out of the bag) La revelación deautorizado de un secreto (spill the beans)
¿Existe unos dichos semejantes en español?

María José
June 30, 2008, 12:23 PM
I'm afraid not. The best I can think of is the expression: se me escapó.

Rusty
June 30, 2008, 12:32 PM
Look here (http://www.tomisimo.org/idioms/en/to-let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag-64.html) or here (http://www.tomisimo.org/idioms/en/to-spill-the-beans-65.html).

María José
June 30, 2008, 12:36 PM
Levantar la liebre must be South American, because I've never heard it before.

CrOtALiTo
June 30, 2008, 12:39 PM
He revelado tu mentira sofia, la policia vendra por ti.

Rusty
June 30, 2008, 12:40 PM
Levantar la liebre must be South American, because I've never heard it before.

Quite possible. I pulled the translation from the Internet and didn't check localization. We may want to add a plain translation in the idiom dictionary for you guys in the other hemisphere. :D

poli
June 30, 2008, 01:02 PM
On another website "discubrir el paste" I never heard of that. They mentioned "paste" was a cake:thinking:

María José
June 30, 2008, 01:27 PM
Descubrir el pastel, Poli.

poli
June 30, 2008, 01:46 PM
Descubrir el pastel, Poli.
Have you ever heard that mean divulge a secret?

María José
June 30, 2008, 02:06 PM
Yeah, I have.

María José
June 30, 2008, 02:27 PM
My husband says he has heard that liebre expression, Rusty.And he's Spanish.

Rusty
June 30, 2008, 02:29 PM
It looks like descubrir el pastel means something like 'to find out in the end'. This means that a secret someone has kept has finally been learned.
What say the hispanohablantes?

sosia
June 30, 2008, 03:06 PM
"tirar de la manta" or "hacer saltar la liebre"
saludos :D

Rusty
June 30, 2008, 04:08 PM
Thanks, Sosia. Tirar de la manta may work, but it may not be the exact equivalent. The folks on the Internet say that this phrase means 'to blow the whistle'. This usually means that someone has notified (or is about to notify) the authorities (police) about illicit activity. It can be used in the office, too, where the authority is the boss and the illicit activity is an infraction of office policy.

When we spill the beans (or let the cat out of the bag), we usually mean that we are divulging a secret we weren't supposed to (by design or by accident).
For example:
John's birthday surprise was spoiled because his wife spilled the beans (she either told John herself, or she told someone else and that person couldn't keep the secret).

Explícanos que quieren decir esas frases que pusiste, por favor.

CrOtALiTo
June 30, 2008, 04:28 PM
He descuebierto tu maldad Elaina, Is only a Joke.

sosia
June 30, 2008, 11:54 PM
Yes Rusty
"Tirar de la manta" is telling a financial/political secret. Usually used as warning, asking for financial/political protection/advantages "Si no me proteges de mis enemigos, tiraré de la manta"

Explícanos que quieren decir esas frases que pusiste, por forfi.
No entiendo.

Saludos :D

Rusty
July 01, 2008, 07:20 AM
Yes Rusty
"Tirar de la manta" is telling a financial/political secret. Usually used as warning, asking for financial/political protection/advantages "Si no me proteges de mis enemigos, tiraré de la manta"

Saludos :D

Thanks, Sosia. I've added 'blow the whistle' to the idiom list with 'tirar de la manta' as its translation. :)

The sentence you didn't understand was just asking you to explain the two sentences you posted earlier so that I could understand them better. I suppose you didn't understand the last two words at the end. Those words, I've learned, mean by forfeit. My intention was to say please in a funny way. I failed. :sad:

sosia
July 01, 2008, 09:29 AM
Youg "posh" girls usually shrink " por favor" to "porfa" or "porfi" saying "porfa, haz XXXX" or "porfi, haz XX", but I have neve heard " por forfi"

Saludos :D

poli
July 01, 2008, 09:41 AM
We have valley girls here, I think to similar effects. It's a specific accent and amazingly it's nationwide, but especially strong in Manhattan and Los Angeles.
Otra pregunta:
Ejemplo: El niño hizo saltar la liebre que ibamos tener una fiesta de sorpresa para su primo.
Se puede decir: Cuando empezó hablar de la fiesta de sorpresa para su primo, el niño inocentamente tiró de la manta?

sosia
July 01, 2008, 10:27 AM
no, "tirar de la manta" implies an intention, a will.
For not wanted/innocent leak of information, the usual is Gemma's way:
"cuando el niño empezó a hablar de la fiesta, se le escapó que habría payasos"
saludos :D

Tomisimo
July 01, 2008, 01:58 PM
Youg "posh" girls usually shrink " por favor" to "porfa" or "porfi" saying "porfa, haz XXXX" or "porfi, haz XX", but I have neve heard " por forfi"

Saludos :D
You can also add an s on the end: porfas, porfis (at least in Mexico)

Thomson
October 17, 2019, 08:28 PM
There is a TV show called "suelte la sopa". I took that to figuratively mean "spill the beans".

poli
October 17, 2019, 09:18 PM
You are right, I used to think it meant shake things up, but in a previous entry in this forum, it was determined to mean spill the beans.

Want to contribute to this discussion? Have a question of your own? Register for your own free account now!


Copyright © 2004-2008 Tomisimo.org