tell tales

Idioms  

1. Divulge secrets, as in Don't trust him; he's apt to tell tales. This expression was first recorded about 1350. A variant, tell tales out of school, first recorded in 1530, presumably alluded to schoolchildren gossiping but was soon broadened to revealing secret or private information. Both may be obsolescent.

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Example Sentences

So he decides to keep appearing in clubs to tell tales of his relationship woes, lacing the commentary with rueful remarks that are vaguely comic, though nothing he says is actually funny.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

His capacity to tell tales is still worthy of Gabriel García Márquez.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2025

TikTok, Twitter, Reddit and other sites tell tales of similar woes.

From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2022

At least the ones in “Misdemeanor Dream,” who tell tales in English and Native languages, but also via movement and dance, of the births of constellations, the celestial romance that begets all sentient life.

From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2022

Matt Creighton’s grandfather had lived through the Revolution; Matt himself had survived the Mexican War; and Uncle Billy Jeffers, down the road, was still alive to tell tales of the War of 1812.

From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt

Related Words

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