/ˈlɛt ðə ˈkæt aʊt əv ðə ˈbæɡ/
English idiom, informal. To reveal a secret, often by accident.
Draft Not yet checked by a native English speaker.
How do people use Let the cat out of the bag
?
Informal, used by everyone, often with a sigh about a ruined surprise. “Let” doesn’t change in the past (“Tom let the cat out of the bag”), and it’s common as a warning (“don’t let the cat out of the bag”). You can name the secret afterward: “she let the cat out of the bag about the party”.
Also said let the cat out the bag
Let the cat out of the bag
in real sentences
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Tom let the cat out of the bag.
Tatoeba, sentence by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Be careful not to let the cat out of the bag.
Tatoeba, sentence by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Let the cat out of the bag
come from?
Phrase Finder found the first printed use in The London Magazine in 1760 (“had not let the cat out of the bag”), and English Wiktionary dates it to around 1753 or 1770. The usual explanation is a market trick: a cheat sells you a “pig” in a sack that really holds a cat, which is where “a pig in a poke” comes from, but Phrase Finder says no document links the two. The story about a sailor’s whip, the cat o’ nine tails, kept in a bag is even weaker.
Mistakes learners make with Let the cat out of the bag
Swapping the bag for a sack or a box, the way German (“die Katze aus dem Sack lassen”) and some other languages say it. In English it’s always a bag.
Other English idioms like Let the cat out of the bag
Spot a mistake in Let the cat out of the bag
?
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