The English language can be a beast to learn, with all its weird idioms (do you want to know more about the etymology of weird, by the way? Check it out here!). Take the expression “Spill the beans” for instance: why on earth would beans be related to secrets? Let’s take a deep breath and find out.
Meaning
To spill the beans means revealing a secret; to disclose, to expose a secret.
Example #1
We've decided to spill the beans on one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets.
Example #2
Because you can't get a good book unless you're going to spill the beans, and I can't spill the beans … not for a long time".
Example #3
Swiss bankers who spill the beans continue to do so at their peril.
Need more examples? Check out on Ludwig.com
Origin
Why are beans the symbol of secrets? Well, many sources refer to the ancient Greece voting system: the beans we’re talking about may be the ones used as ballots when secrecy and anonymity were required. The white beans usually meant yes, the black ones no. Since votes were cast by placing one of those two different coloured beans or pebble stones in a vase, spilling them by overturning the container would reveal what should remain a secret until the end of the vote. Alas, this is most likely a folk etymology. A very charming one, I must admit. In another version after all votes were collected, the bean counter had to spill the beans to check the votes, so the spilling was made to discover what was secret until that moment: the results of the election. Sorry, another false etymology.
So what’s the true origin of this expression? Well, let’s stick to the facts: the first testimony of the phrase “spill the beans” recorded in print comes from 1902/03 in relation to horse racing. In that article the horse won in spite of the prediction (he was not supposed to win) and rocked the boat, so spilling the beans in that case would mean upsetting a previously stable situation. Since the phrase was first found in the early 20th century, we’d better stick to the facts and focus on those years rather than look for charming yet fake stories. Another instance of “spill the beans” as upsetting a previously stable situation in the 20th century comes from The Van Wert Daily Bulletin (October 1911):
Finally Secretary Fisher, of the President’s cabinet, who had just returned from a trip to Alaska, was called by Governor Stubbs to the front, and proceeded, as one writer says, to ‘spill the beans’.
“Spill” also had the meaning of letting something out, and this use dates back to the 1500s. As we can see in Edward Hellowes' Guevara's Familiar epistles, 1574, 'spill' meant to divulge' or 'let out' since at least the 16th century:
Although it be a shame to spill it, I will not leaue to say that which... his friends haue said vnto me.
The first occurrence of beans as "information" dates back from the 1200s, according to the Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms. However, there is no written testimony of the phrase “spill the beans” before the first decade of the 20th century.
Ludwig Wrap Up
Even though we may be tempted to see the charming remnants of Ancient Greece voting system when considering the origin of the phrase “spill the beans”, since beans or pebbles were used in secret votes, we need to be as scientific as possible and stick to the data: if the first written occurrences of this idiom come from the 20th century, we can’t assume it survived thousands of years without leaving a trace. Since “spill” started to mean “to divulge” or “let out” it’s much more plausible that our desire to give an idiom some noble, ancient origin had the better of our objectivity. Maybe beans are used just because they’re easy to find in every home, just like cats. Why am I bringing cats to the table now? Because there’s another idiom with the same meaning as “spill the beans”, and it’s “let the cat out of the bag”. Again, idioms are often created with things that were common when they came up, and in the 20th century elections didn’t work as in ancient Athens…