When you reveal a secret, often by accident, you've spilled the beans. One of the things I really love about language learning is searching for expressions that carry the same meaning and nuance. It is not always possible to find equivalent expressions across languages. However, in Brazilian Portuguese, we do have an expression that has exactly the same meaning as spill the beans. We also have another one with a similar meaning. Let’s get to them.
Dar com a língua nos dentes
dar com a língua nos dentes: spill the beans
Literally: to give with the tongue in the teeth
Se você for lá embaixo e der com a língua nos dentes, eu vou embora.
If you go downstairs and spill the beans, I will go away.
Ana deve estar lá dentro dando com a língua nos dentes.
Ana must be inside spilling the beans.
Não há porque esperar por Paulo nos convidar para dar com a língua nos dentes.
No need to wait for Paulo to invite us to spill the beans.
Eu vou dar com a língua nos dentes.
I’ll spill the beans.
Depois que você deu com a língua nos dentes, eu vou convocar uma conferência de imprensa.
After you’ve spilled the beans, I’ll call a press conference.
Eu estava com medo que a garotinha daria com a língua nos dentes.
I was afraid that the little lady’s remark would spill the beans.
Você acha que alguém em Washington deu com língua nos dentes?
You think someone in Washington spilled the beans?
Abrir o jogo
abrir o jogo: spill the beans
Literally: to open the game
Olha, poupe a minha vida, e eu abro o jogo.
Look, spare my life, and I’ll spill the beans.
Eles não vão abrir o jogo com um policial, você entendeu?
They’re not going to spill the beans to a cop, you got that?
Para que ela possa abrir o jogo dentro do departamento?
So that she can spill the beans inside the department?
Nada que você faça vai me fazer abrir o jogo.
Nothing you do will make me spill the beans.
Eles disseram que eles abririam o jogo se eu não desse uma festa.
They said they’d spill the beans if I didn’t give them a party.
That’s it for spill the beans. As you can see, it’s not always possible to translate idioms literally and keep the meaning. That seldom happens. One example of this is break the ice. As usual, if you translate spill the beans literally, you’ll get derramar os feijões, which makes absolutely no sense in Portuguese. Always be careful with that. Te vejo no próximo post!