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.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tell tales

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

Those who were in Sin City that week in December 2007 tell tales of thousands of British fight fans emptying the bars of alcohol.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2025

As was the case with Celsius, a crypto exchange that went bust in 2022, the FTX customer statements tell tales of grievous loss and emotional torment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2024

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

Hearing him joke and tease and tell tales down at the store, you wouldn’t of known he had a care in the world, unless you studied his eyes.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Related Words

• blab