Common Italian expression
| Literally | To spit out the toad |
| Meaning | To be shy and submissive but still muster the courage to confess something |
| IPA pronunciation | /spuˈtaːre il ˈrɔspo/ |
Sputare il rospo
To spit it out, to spill the beans
Examples
Coraggio, sputa il rospo: sei stato tu a rompere la finestra!
Come on, spit it out: it was you who broke the window!
Il ragazzo sputò il rospo confessando il furto alla polizia.
The boy spit it out by confessing the robbery to the cops.
Where does this idiom come from?
For many people, toads are disgusting creatures. They are difficult food for snakes to digest, and unlike innocent frogs, their skin is poisonous. When you spill the beans, you can’t keep your mouth shut anymore. You have to confess (confessare) what you’ve done.
Now imagine that a disgusting toad finds its way into your mouth: wouldn’t you spit it out immediately? 😉
Related lessons
- sputare (to spit)
- rospo (toad)
- definite articles
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very interesting, thanks! great website!
Grazie, Bill!