spilling the tea
Revealing juicy details
Spilling the tea means sharing gossip or revealing juicy, often scandalous information about someone or something.
The expression comes from Black and LGBTQ+ slang and gained mainstream popularity through drag culture and reality television.
Tea here refers to the gossip itself—the hot, fresh details everyone wants to hear.
She was spilling the tea about what really happened at the party.
The shorter form spill works the same way: Okay, spill—what did he say?
- tattlingReporting others' wrongdoing
- chit-chattingEngaging in casual conversation
- gossipingTalking about absent people
- dishFood container or recipe
- gossBritish slang for rumors
hot goss · juicy details · exposé · talk · grapevine · word on the street · tell all · oversharing · no filter · loose lips · scandal · revelation · dirt · rumor · spreading rumors · receipts · chatting · confession
spilling the teakeeping quiet
Remaining silent
keeping mum · biting one's tongue · buttoning up · clamming up · discretion
spilling the teadiscretion
Careful judgment in speech
keeping to oneself · privacy · reticence · taciturnity · saying nothing