Letting the cat out of the bag

Look up let the cat out of the bag in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Letting the cat out of the bag (also ...box) is a colloquialism that means to reveal facts previously hidden. It could refer to revealing a conspiracy (friendly or not) to its target, letting an outsider into an inner circle of knowledge (e.g., explaining an in-joke), or the revelation of a plot twist in a movie or play. It also means to reveal a secret carelessly or by mistake.

Etymology

The derivation of the phrase is not clear. One suggestion is that the phrase refers to the whip-like "cat o'nine tails", an instrument of punishment once used on Royal Navy vessels. The instrument was purportedly stored in a red sack, and a sailor who revealed the transgressions of another would be "letting the cat out of the bag".[1] Another suggested derivation is from the "pig in a poke" scam, where a customer buying a suckling pig in a sack would actually be sold a (less valuable) cat, and would not realise the deception until the bag was opened.[1] Johannes Agricola referred to the expression "let the cat out of the bag" in a letter to Martin Luther on 4 May 1530 as referenced in Lyndal Roper's 2016 biography about Martin Luther, "Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet".

References

  1. ^ a b Let the Cat out of the Bag, at Snopes.com; by Barbara Mikkelsen; published 16 July 2012; retrieved 31 May 2013
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