What does 'spill the beans' mean?

What it means: To reveal a secret, usually by accident. If someone "spills the beans," they've told people something that was supposed to be kept private.

Where it comes from: One theory traces it to ancient Greece, where beans were used as votes in elections - white for yes, black for no. Spilling the container revealed the result early. Whether or not that's true, the phrase has been in English since the early 20th century.

• "Don't spill the beans - it's a surprise party."
• "She spilled the beans about the redundancies before the official announcement."
• "Who spilled the beans?"

The difference from "spill the tea": "Spill the tea" is newer and more informal - it's about sharing gossip, not necessarily revealing a secret. "Spill the beans" is about revealing something specific that was meant to be kept private.

• "Let it slip" - specifically for accidental reveals: "I let it slip that she was pregnant"
• "Give the game away" - British English, similar meaning
• "Blow the secret" - casual, less common
• "Let the cat out of the bag" - very similar, equally common

Register: Casual. Common in everyday conversation. Would sound odd in formal writing.

Tags: idiom, secrets, everyday English, informal