/deskuˌbɾiɾ el pasˈtel/ lit. ‘uncover the pie’
Spanish idiom, colloquial. To reveal a secret, often by accident.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Spanish speaker.
How do people use Descubrir el pastel
?
Colloquial Spanish, used about secrets, surprises and schemes. You can say someone uncovers the pie (“no descubras el pastel”, “Juan descubrió el pastel”), but the reflexive form is at least as common and keeps the blame vague: “se descubrió el pastel” means the secret came out.
Also said descubrirse el pastel
Descubrir el pastel
in real sentences
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No descubras el pastel.
Don’t spill the beans.
Tatoeba, sentence by albrusgher, translation by Dejo, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Descubrir el pastel
come from?
The picture is a covered pie: lift the crust and everyone sees what’s inside. English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary both list the reflexive “descubrirse el pastel” (for a secret to come out) and send readers to the Real Academia dictionary, but neither gives a date or a story. I couldn’t find a recorded first use.
Mistakes learners make with Descubrir el pastel
Reading “descubrir” as “discover”. Here it has its older sense of uncovering, so nobody is finding a pie: someone is lifting the cover off one.
Other Spanish idioms like Descubrir el pastel
Spot a mistake in Descubrir el pastel
?
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