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I Just Learned Why We Say ‘Spill The Beans’ And I Would Never Have Guessed

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We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about why we say “o’clock” and “pardon my French.”

We’ve debunked common misconceptions around why we say “night night, sleep tight” too.

But “spilling the beans” ― a phrase the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as relating “sometimes questionable or secret information of a personal nature” ― is a mystery to us.

After all, “spilling the tea,” which has its origins in Black drag culture, refers to the “tee,” “tea,” or “T” of the first letter in “truth”, so that makes sense.

But what have beans got to do with anything, and why spill them?

It likely goes back to Ancient Greece

According to the Scholastic Dictionary Of Idioms, it had to do with an old-school voting system.

In ancient Greece, societies would place either a black or a white bean into a jar.

Black beans meant “no,” while white beans meant “yes.”

“The beans were supposed to be counted in secret, but if somebody accidentally (or purposefully) knocked over the jar and spilled the beans, the secret vote would be revealed,” the book reads.

Some fraternal clubs still use a black and white ball voting system; that’s why we have the term “blackballed” (per Dictionary.com).

Reader’s Digest says that the Ancient Greek origin may have inspired the use of the phrase in 1900s America, which is how it’s stuck around ’til today.

“He just walked off the reservation, taking enough insurgent Republicans with him to spill the beans for the big five,” a 1908 entry into American publication The Seven Points Journal reads.

This definition, close to meaning “upset the apple cart”, is the same as the current one.

Why are “beans” in so many sayings?

To my disappointment, neither the Greek nor the American origin seems to have anything to do with the disparaging term “bean counter” sometimes used to refer to accountants.

As for using the word “bean” to mean “head” or “brain”, arts and culture publication The Smithsonian says that’s a little harder to track down.

It’s been traced back to the late 1800s and might have something to do with the fact that beans are a bit brain-shaped (sophisticated).

The Scholastic Dictionary Of Idioms adds that 1200s slang saw “bean” mean “information.”

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Zelenskyy Urges West To Overcome Its ‘Fear’ And Let Ukraine Fire British Missiles Into Russia

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the west to overcome its “fear” and let Ukraine fire British long-range missiles into Russia.

The Ukrainian president urged its allies to show “decisiveness” after Moscow launched fresh attacks on the city of Kharkiv.

Posting on X, he said: “The world must help us defend ourselves against Russian military aircraft and the dozens of guided aerial bombs that claim Ukrainian lives every day.

“This terror can be stopped. But to stop it, the fear of making strong, objectively necessary decisions must be overcome. Only decisiveness can bring a just end to this war. It is decisiveness that most effectively protects against terror.”

His comments came after talks between Joe Biden and Keir Starmer in the White House broke up without any agreement on whether Ukraine will be allowed to use British-made Storm Shadow missiles on Russian soil.

Vladimir Putin has warned that such a move would lead to war between Russia and Nato.

He said: “We won’t be bullied by Putin’s shameless grandstanding.

“What he should now do is cease his aggression and leave Ukraine, that’s what he should do.

“But the UK and our public should be absolutely confident that we are supporting Ukraine in their struggle.”

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Trump Declares Hatred For Taylor Swift After Harris Endorsement

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Former President Donald Trump spent his Sunday morning on social media blasting those supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president in November ― including pop superstar Taylor Swift.

“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” the Republican candidate posted on his Truth Social platform, immediately after another post where he calls “rich, job creating people” who support Harris “STUPID.”

Swift, who was once known for avoiding public talk about politics, announced her much-anticipated endorsement of Harris just minutes after ABC News’ presidential debate ended on Tuesday night.

The endorsement came in the form of an Instagram post featuring the 14-time Grammy Award winner with one of her cats ― a nod to Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, who received widespread backlash after trying to belittle Democratic women who have kids as “childless cat ladies.”

In her massively influential endorsement of the Democratic ticket, the singer said Harris “fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”

“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” Swift continued, adding that she was “heartened and impressed” that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was chosen to be the candidate’s running mate because she said he has been “standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”

Swift’s Democratic endorsement was partly in response to Trump sharing AI-generated images of women wearing “Swifties for Trump” T-shirts. The singer’s

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Here’s The Full List Of This Year’s Strictly Come Dancing Couples

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Saturday night’s pre-recorded launch show saw the 15 new celebrities in the cast discovering which of Strictly’s resident professional dancers they’ll be performing with for the duration of the series.

Just in case you missed it – here’s the full list of celebrities and their professional dance partners:

These 15 pairings are now in training for the first live show of the series, which is due to air on BBC One on Saturday 21 September.

Meanwhile, Michelle Tsiakkas has received her first ever celebrity partner in EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, having been part of the Strictly team since 2022.

Unfortunately, this also means that – as was previously rumoured – Carlos Gu, Kai Widdrington and Lauren Oakley will not be getting celebrity partners in 2024. However, they will remain part of the show’s resident dance troupe, and continue to appear in group dances.

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Pharrell Williams Says He’d Now Tweak The Title Of This Iconic 2000s Pop Song

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Pharrell Williams has revealed that he would choose his words differently if he made Britney Spears’ hit I’m A Slave 4 U in 2024.

The Grammy winner – who co-wrote and produced the track with Chad Hugo as the production duo The Neptunes – recently told The Hollywood Reporter that the word “slave” is not one to “play with these days”.

“And there’s many different angles, right? Obviously, what my people and my DNA and my ancestors had to endure and overcome, but then there’s also all the atrocity that happens in human trafficking every day,” Pharrell said. “So, no, that’s not something I would say.”

He added that there are “a lot” of songs that show “what was contextually acceptable at one time is no longer acceptable” in another.

“But I think that’s for the better,” he said.

Pharrell continued: “I think there are a lot of songs where I wouldn’t say half the things that I said before. As the time changes, so does mentality and hopefully it evolves to a better place. And it’s not about being politically correct, it’s about being universally aware.”

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Britney’s song, which inspired an iconic performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, was initially meant for Janet Jackson before it was passed off to the Toxic singer.

The track ushered in a new era for Britney at the time – and marked The Neptunes’ first global hit.

“She was eager and ready to transition. And I put a fire under that notion. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s how you feeling? OK, let’s put this fire under that. Let’s go,’” Pharrell said of recording the song with Britney.

The US outlet noted that Britney appears in Morgan Neville’s upcoming documentary film Piece By Piece, a look at Pharrell’s life and career through Lego animation, although the artist revealed that he hasn’t spoken to the pop icon in “maybe 10-plus years”.

“I think I’ve seen her in the elevator one time. I think we were all going into the same place or something,” he said. “I can remember exactly where it was, and she had her sunglasses on, and I was like, ‘I know that’s Britney.’ Maybe she doesn’t remember me. That’s fine.’”

Aside from I’m A Slave 4 U, The Neptunes also worked with the singer on her songs Boys and Why Should I Be Sad. The latter was their last collaboration, from her 2007 album Blackout.

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