letting slip
Unintentionally blurting out
Letting slip is allowing something to escape inadvertently—information you didn't mean to share, an opportunity you failed to seize, or something that slipped from your grasp.
Most often it refers to accidentally revealing secrets or private information: She let slip that they were planning to move.
The phrase echoes Shakespeare's "let slip the dogs of war"—releasing something that cannot be recalled.
- blurtingImpulsive verbal outburst
- loose lipsHabit of revealing secrets
- revealMake something visible
- spilling the beansDisclosing confidential information
- disclosureAct of revealing information
cat out of the bag · admission · confession · laxity · forgetfulness · leaking · revelation · spilling · divulgence · too much information · abandonment · oversight · neglect · carelessness · exposing · inattentiveness · sloppiness · release
- disclosurerevealing, disclosing, disclosure, disclose, divulge
- confessionsconfession, admission, true confession, deathbed confession, divulgence
letting slipannouncing
Publicly stating information
declaring · proclaiming · making a statement · breaking the news · going on record
letting slipholding back
Preventing forward movement
withholding · concealing · keeping mum · suppressing · biting one's tongue
lets, letting, slip, slips, slipped, slipping, slippage, slipper, slippery