/vwoˈtare il ˈsakko/ lit. ‘empty the sack’
Italian idiom, everyday. To reveal a secret, often by accident.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Vuotare il sacco
?
Everyday Italian for finally telling everything you know, often after pressure: a suspect confessing, a friend admitting what happened. It’s the stock phrase of crime stories (“qualcuno ha vuotato il sacco”), and also a friendly push: “dai, vuota il sacco!” means “come on, spill it”. Many speakers say svuotare instead of vuotare.
Also said svuotare il sacco
Vuotare il sacco
in real sentences
-
Qualcuno tra loro ha vuotato il sacco.
One of them spilled the beans.
Tatoeba, sentence by dnnywld, CC BY 2.0 FR
-
Quindi gli hai svuotato il sacco?
So you told him everything?
Tatoeba, sentence by Guybrush88, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Vuotare il sacco
come from?
The image is tipping a sack upside down until nothing is left inside. The Treccani dictionary defines it as saying everything you think or know, often to unburden yourself, and quotes Manzoni using the old spelling “votare il sacco”. English Wiktionary compares French “vider son sac”, which uses the same picture. We found no earlier date than Manzoni.
Mistakes learners make with Vuotare il sacco
Using it for an accidental slip. “Let the cat out of the bag” is usually a blunder, but vuotare il sacco is a deliberate full confession. For blurting something out, Italian has “spifferare”.
Other Italian idioms like Vuotare il sacco
Spot a mistake in Vuotare il sacco
?
Send a correction, or a sentence you’d actually say with it. Everything is read before anything on this page changes.