let the cat out of the bag

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play

(Mid-1700s) The inverse of the idiom pig in a poke. If a dishonest merchant tries to sell a cat as a pig and the cat comes out or is taken out of the bag, the merchant's secret is disclosed.

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: die aap uit die mou laat — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Afrikaans: die kat uit die sak laat — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Breton: reiñ avel d'ar c'had — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Bulgarian: изпускам тайната (izpuskam tajnata) — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Bulgarian: изпусна тайната (izpusna tajnata) — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Chinese Mandarin: 露馅 (lòuxiàn) — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Czech: prořeknout se — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Czech: vybreptat to — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Danish: slippe katten ud af sækken — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Finnish: möläyttää julki — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• French: vendre la mèche — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Galician: irse da lingua — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• German: die Katze aus dem Sack lassen — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Hebrew: יצא המרצע מן השק (yatsá hamartséa' min hasak) — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Hungarian: kifecseg — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Hungarian: kikotyog — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Hungarian: eljár a szája — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Hungarian: elszólja magát — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Hungarian: elkotyog — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Hungarian: elárul — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Icelandic: tala af sér — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Icelandic: leysa frá skjóðunni — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Italian: spifferare — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Luxembourgish: d'Kaz aus dem Sak loossen — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Norwegian: slippe katta ut av sekken — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Polish: wypuszczać kota z worka — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Polish: wypuścić kota z worka — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Portuguese: dar com a língua nos dentes — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Romanian: scăpa porumbelul — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Romanian: se scăpa — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Russian: вы́нести сор из избы (výnesti sor iz izby) — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Scots: lat oot the pouther — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Scottish Gaelic: leig mu sgaoil e — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Serbo-Croatian: излепрљати — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Serbo-Croatian: одати тајну ненамерно — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Serbo-Croatian: izleprljati — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Serbo-Croatian: odati tajnu nenamerno — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Spanish: irse de la lengua — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Spanish: levantar la liebre — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Spanish: descubrirse el pastel — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently
• Spanish: destapar la olla — to disclose a secret, often inadvertently