If you’re a fan of The Office, the phrase “spill the beans” might conjure up the hilarious image of Kevin Malone spilling his bean-filled chili all over the floor. But for at least a hundred years prior, this idiom was used when someone revealed a secret, often too early or unintentionally. One of the most common theories about “spill the beans” suggests the phrase is rooted in ancient Greece, though that may not be as credible as some people imagine.
The theory comes from an ancient Greek voting method using black and white beans in a jar. Marvin Terban, author of the Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms, supports this theory, claiming the idiom came about because if the jar were knocked over, it would reveal the result before voting was complete. But linguist Laurel Brinton casts doubt on this theory (despite it being offered as a credible origin story in multiple places online). She told Reader’s Digest, “There’s just no evidence connecting it to the 20th-century examples.”
While linguists may disagree on the origin of the idiom, we can trace its usage. The verb “to spill” has been used as an alternative for the verb “to divulge” since 1577, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. However, the phrase “to spill the beans” appeared in print in the early 20th century, in the context of political figures upsetting stable situations, either through their actions or by talking openly out of turn. By 1919, “spill the beans” had finally taken on the colloquial secret-revealing meaning it maintains today.
But the early references don’t explain why “beans” were chosen, and there may not be a clear answer. However, there’s a possible connection with the early 19th-century slang “not to know beans,” referring to when people didn’t know anything about a certain topic. Beans were chosen for being small, like the tiniest details, so perhaps that connotation carried over into the early 20th century. Whether the origin is in ancient Greek voting systems or warnings about divulging knowledge, the phrase remains a popular idiom today.
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