the.com/cat out of the bag
The secret that escaped before you finished deciding to tell it.
means To reveal a secret, usually accidentally or before the right moment.
from The leading theory ties it to old market trickery: a dodgy trader would swap a piglet for a cat in a sack, so when the bag was opened — or the cat yowled and clawed its way out — the fraud was exposed. Another oft-repeated tale claims it refers to the 'cat o' nine tails' whip kept in a bag, but that one is almost certainly folk etymology with no real documentary support. The phrase itself is first clearly recorded in English in the 1700s, with the market-swap story remaining the best-supported, if still not fully proven, origin.
- origin theory
- maybe swapping a piglet for a cat at market
- naval theory
- cat o nine tails kept hidden in a bag
- first recorded
- 18th century British print, exact origin disputed
- opposite move
- putting the cat back is never possible