#54- 20 Words for Communication, Spreading Information & Secrets

Welcome to episode #54- 20 Words for Communication, Spreading Information & Secrets. The language around spreading information, communication and talking about secrets is a common one in American culture. The transfer of information, whether on the news or in your personal life, is something that you need to know how to talk about in English. In this episode, you'll learn how to discuss this topic confidently using 20 popular phrasal verbs, slang words and idioms. 

Don't forget to download the Study Guide, where you can practice what you learned in the episode! The Study Guide includes:

• All 17 words and definitions
• All new words in real life contexts
• Example sentences 
• Practice activities
• The transcript

Get your Study Guide Right >> HERE <<

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Transcript

[00:00:00] On today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you 20 phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms for communication and spreading information. You'll be learning vocabulary like mum's the word, a snitch, dig up dirt on someone, to keep something under wraps, and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there! Welcome to The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby — your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey! Greetings from New York City. Welcome to episode number 54. I hope that you are all [00:01:00] doing okay in your corner of the world. I know that things are pretty chaotic right now, so I'm hoping that my podcast can bring you some peace, can bring you some calm, and provide some distractions for you. Here in New York City, you know, things are the same as they usually are — there's always something happening, never boring. The weather here has cooled down again, and it's been super unpredictable. The month of May in New York City, in case you ever visit, is pretty funny. We have a joke that says they call it May because it may be sunny, may be rainy, may be cold, may be hot.

We never know what's gonna happen. For example, I woke up this morning, and the rain forecast changed, and I found out that it was gonna rain for the next four days. I might wake up tomorrow [00:02:00] and they say it's sunny for the next four days. It's absolutely crazy and unpredictable — what we have to deal with in the month of May. But the month of May is almost over.

By the way, happy birthday to anyone who had a birthday in May! Figured I would start doing birthday shout-outs when I remember.

Okay, so let's talk about today's episode. I was watching an episode of Friends where Rachel talks about her New Year's resolution. I'm gonna try and put this in the bonus section, in the folder that has all the study guides. I use this lesson with my class. There's an episode where Rachel talks about how she's going to gossip less, and it reminds me of this topic. And this is a really cool topic — about gossip, spreading information, [00:03:00] communication. This is a topic that I like to teach my students because of how common it is to spread information in our culture, and in most cultures around the world, we spread information and gossip openly all the time. And I know that this is typical in many cultures. I know that in some cultures it's not open — it's secretive. But in American culture, it depends on what the information is. We say bad news spreads quickly. So, you know, someone can post good news and no one comments, but then someone posts bad news and everyone's talking about it.

Gossip in the United States is not always seen as something bad — unless you're saying bad things about people. So if you're spreading neutral information, it's sometimes not seen as bad. But if it's bad information, [00:04:00] then it's seen as bad. But random information is not so bad.

I think that gossip shows, gossip publications, magazines that talk about gossip — they're not seen as particularly credible or good. However, like I said, telling regular information that's not offensive, that's not as bad. But people who gossip too much are seen as not being trustworthy.

So let's talk about the vocabulary that you are going to learn in this episode: to hear something through the grapevine, a little birdie told me, juicy, spill the tea, a scoop or inside scoop, to keep something on the DL, to let something slip, to spill the beans, to bite your tongue, mum's the word, to have a big mouth, a leak or leak out, a snitch or to snitch, to talk behind someone's back, dig up dirt on someone, to be a rat or to rat someone out, to keep something under wraps, the cat's out of the bag, to cover up, and loose lips sink ships.

Before I get into the story, I just want to remind you that there's a study guide waiting for you that will have everything you need to remember everything you learn in the episode and start using it with confidence. This study guide has practice activities, the full transcript, definitions, and examples, and the story, so [00:06:00] that you can practice at home whenever you have some free time.

If you want the link, you can just look at the show notes — the episode description — click the link, and then you'll get the link to the folder that has all of the study guides from every episode so that you can access it whenever you want.

Alright, so now let's get to the story. I'm going to read you a story that has all of the vocabulary in real-life contexts, and then after the story, we will talk about the meanings of the vocabulary.

Here we go.

Sophia worked at a busy marketing agency in Los Angeles. One day, she heard through the grapevine that her coworker Jake was secretly dating their boss, Amanda. Sophia couldn't believe it. Jake always said they were just friends, but then a little birdie [00:07:00] told her that Jake and Amanda were seen having dinner together again. At lunch, Sophia's friend Priya leaned in and said, "I've got some juicy information. Want me to spill the tea?" Sophia nodded. Priya grinned. "I got the inside scoop. Jake and Amanda have been dating for months. They've been keeping it on the DL, but last night Jake let something slip when he mentioned, 'We are going on vacation.'"

Sophia almost spilled the beans to another coworker, but she decided to bite her tongue. After all, mum's the word. She didn't want to be known as the one with the big mouth. Later that week, there was a leak. Someone snitched and told the HR [00:08:00] manager about the relationship. People whispered in the hallways, talking behind Jake and Amanda's backs.

Rumors spread quickly, after all. One coworker even tried to dig up dirt on Jake, hoping to rat him out for breaking company rules. Jake and Amanda tried to keep it under wraps, but the truth was out — the cat was out of the bag. Amanda tried to cover it up, saying, "It's just office gossip, nothing more." But no one believed her. Sophia thought, loose lips sink ships.

She decided to stay quiet and not be responsible for the spread of any more information. When her friend Priya asked her, "Did you hear what happened?" Sophia just smiled and said, [00:09:00] "No idea." The end.

Alright, now let's talk about the definitions and hear some example sentences for all of the vocabulary. First up, we see that they heard something through the grapevine. This means to hear news or gossip indirectly or informally, so you don't hear it through the source — it's something that travels.

And so, this is not firsthand information. A grapevine is a line where grapes grow. You see this in vineyards where wine is created — where they grow grapes to create wine. So it really doesn't have anything to do with grapes. I think the symbolism here is just envisioning a long vine of information that goes from person to person.

For example: I heard through the grapevine that Anna is quitting her job.

Next up, we have the idiom a little birdie told me. A little birdie told me is the expression that we use when we want to protect our source. So we don't want to say who gave us the information, so we'll say, "Oh, it was a little birdie."

A little birdie told me. For example: A little birdie told me that you're planning a surprise party.

Next up, we have the adjective juicy, but this is the slang use for juicy. Normally, juicy is used to talk about food, and when food has a lot of natural juice. It's very moist and liquidy. But here, when we use juicy as slang, it means something very interesting, something that's shocking or exciting to hear, specifically about [00:11:00] gossip.
So we say, I have a juicy secret that I wanna tell you — this is very interesting; it's gonna shock you; it's gonna excite you.
For example, She told me some juicy details about her neighbor's divorce.

Next up, this is very new slang, like within the last five years, and it's spill the tea. Spill the tea is one of the most popular new types of slang that we have, and it means share the gossip, give me the news, gimme the information.
So, spill the tea! Come on, I know you know what's going on.
For example, Come on, spill the tea — what happened at the party?

Next up, we have a scoop or the inside scoop. This is very big in the world of journalism. [00:12:00]
 So, a scoop or the inside scoop is secret or exclusive information, often before others know it. And this is why it's big in the world of journalism — because the first journalist, the first newspaper, the first news agency to get the information, they say, We've got the scoop! We've got it! No one else has it. We've got inside information that hasn't become public yet.
For example, I've got the inside scoop on the new product launch.

Next up, we have the slang expression to keep something on the DL. In this case, DL means down low, so keep something on the DL means to keep something quiet, keep it secret.
For example, They're dating but trying to keep it on the DL.

Next up, we have to let something slip [00:13:00] or slip out. This is to accidentally say something that you weren't supposed to say.
 For example, He let it slip that there's going to be a promotion next month.
 Letting something slip typically comes with some guilt, like you really didn't wanna say anything, but you had zero self-control.

Similarly to let something slip is the very popular idiom to spill the beans. Spill the beans means to reveal a secret, often by accident.
For example, Who spilled the beans about the surprise gift?
Let something slip and spill the beans — these two are often used in the same way or in similar ways, so you can choose whichever one you like best and use it.

Next up, we have the expression bite your tongue. This is to stop yourself [00:14:00] from saying something that you wanted to say.
 So, in the story, we see that she almost spilled the beans to another coworker, but then she decided to bite her tongue. She kept herself from saying it; she showed some self-control.
 Sometimes you physically have to bite your tongue in order to stop yourself.
 For example, I wanted to tell her the truth, but I bit my tongue.

Next up, we have the expression mum's the word. This means keep it a secret, don't tell anyone. So, if I tell someone a secret and then I say, mum's the word, that's telling them to keep the information a secret.

Now, one little note here about this idiom — mum's the word is a very old idiom. So the people who tend to use this:
Number one, British English — still used very commonly. But here in [00:15:00] American English, it's typically the older generations that use this.
For example, I personally have never used mum's the word outside of a classroom.
It's still good to know because you'll hear it in movies, TV shows, you'll read it in articles, but you don't actually have to use it if you don't want to.
For example, Mum's the word about the boss's plan to leave the company.

Next up, we have the expression to have a big mouth. This does not mean someone's physical mouth is big — this is metaphorical, symbolic, and it means that someone talks too much or reveals too many secrets; they're not trustworthy.
 For example, Don't tell Kevin — he has a big mouth.
 That means you can't trust him; he's gonna tell everyone.
 In the story, she bites her tongue because she doesn't want people to think that she has a big mouth [00:16:00], because that's not a good reputation to have.

Next up, we have a leak or leak out. This is secret information that becomes public information. A leak is when water or another liquid drips out of a container, so we use this a lot in our homes.
For example, when water continues to come out of the faucet even when we turn it off, and we have to call a plumber to come fix it.
So, when we use it metaphorically, information just continues to come out; there's no stop of information. And the thing with this is that we typically use it in very official ways.
So, the company has a leak, a news organization has a leak, the political party has a leak — information is coming out, and people don't know where it's coming from most of the [00:17:00] time.
So they would say, Hey, we have a leak — find the leak.
For example, The celebrity's private photos were leaked over the weekend.

Next up, we have a snitch or to snitch. So this can be a noun or a verb, and a snitch is a person who tells secrets or reports someone's wrongdoing.
To snitch — we'll use it as a verb — is when someone tells a secret or reports a crime, someone's wrongdoing.
We hear this a lot when it comes to crime or betrayal of some sort.
For example, your coworker is doing something that is against company policy, and you tell your manager — you may say, Oh, she's a snitch, she snitched.

We have an expression: Snitches end up in ditches, and basically, it means that if you tell secrets, you'll end up [00:18:00] dead in a ditch, like a hole in the ground. We use this a lot for organized crime — like somebody goes to the police to report a crime, and then that person is found dead in a ditch.
 For example, Nobody likes a snitch, especially in the workplace.

Next up, we have to talk behind someone's back. This is to say a bad thing or a gossipy thing about someone when they aren't there. You never say it to their face; you only say it when their back is turned, when they're not around to defend themselves.
 This is something that's seen as a very negative thing because you're betraying someone's trust.
 For example, She's always talking behind her coworkers' backs.

Next up, we have to dig up dirt on someone. We talked about this a little bit — I believe it was in episode three when we talked about political scandals.

But digging up dirt [00:19:00] means to search for negative or embarrassing information about someone. So, if you wanted to get someone in trouble, you would hire a private investigator, maybe, and they would dig up dirt — bad information that is going to publicly ruin them or embarrass them in some way. The reporters tried to dig up dirt on the politician.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb rat out — to rat someone out. We also have the noun, a rat, where you are called a rat or you call someone else a rat. So, to rat out, to rat someone out, is to inform on someone, tell someone's secrets. It's very similar to being a snitch.

In the story, someone dug up dirt on Jake, and they wanted to rat him out for breaking company rules. So, being called a [00:20:00] rat in American English is very bad. It means that you betrayed someone — you spread information, you reported them, you told their secrets. For example, he ratted out his friends to avoid punishment.

Next up, we have to keep something under wraps. So, to wrap something is to protect it, right? Cover it. Unwrapping is opening it, exposing it. So, to keep something under wraps is to keep something secret or hidden.
 They're keeping the wedding date under wraps for now — it's secret information, it's covered, they're not revealing it to anyone at the moment.

Next up, we have to let the cat out of the bag or the cat out of the bag. This is a secret that is no longer secret. For example, well, the cat's outta the bag — they're moving to Paris. [00:21:00]
 Some kind of secret is now well known, and people are saying, "Well, that secret's not a secret anymore."

Next up, we have the phrasal verb cover up. This means to hide the truth, especially a mistake or wrongdoing. Now, cover-ups — these are big in politics. When we use it as a noun, we say there was a government cover-up, there was a corporate cover-up. People knew the truth, but they specifically wanted to hide it in order to avoid punishment.
 And so, this is something we use all the time. You'll hear this on the news often; you'll hear this in companies, corporations — very big. For example, they tried to cover up the scandal but failed.

And lastly, this is more like a proverb, like a funny thing that you might say to someone: loose lips sink ships. This means talking [00:22:00] carelessly can cause big problems or reveal secrets. So, loose lips — when you let your lips move and talk a lot — this can cause a lot of problems. That's what this is saying. For example, be careful what you say — loose lips sink ships. And in the story, she remembered this proverb, and she decided to stay quiet because she didn't want anyone to get in trouble. She didn't wanna cause any drama.

Well, look at that — you just learned 20 awesome phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang words, all about communication and spreading information! As usual, I'm going to give you some homework so that you can remember what I taught you in the episode and start using it naturally with confidence.

Step one, if you haven't done it already, is to go download the study guide for this episode so that you can [00:23:00] reinforce everything you learned.

But aside from that, I want you to pick 10 words from today's episode — so, you don't have to do 20, you can do half. Let's start there. Pick 10 words and commit to using them over the next week. You can do several per day, or you can keep it simple — however you want. You can write it in an email, write a text message to a friend who's also learning English. You can say it out loud by recording yourself in an audio file. You can talk to a friend. There are lots of different ways — you can even write sentences in a notebook. The more that these words are exposed to your brain, the higher the percentage that you'll be able to remember them and use them in your English. So, don't forget to do your homework!

Well, that's a wrap for [00:24:00] today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in!