tales

Dead men tell no tales.

Prov. Dead people will not betray any secrets. The club members liked to hold their secret meetings in a graveyard, since dead men tell no tales. Gangster: Mugsy is going to tell the police that we robbed the bank. How can we stop him? Henchman: Dead men tell no tales.

See also: dead, men, tell

Never tell tales out of school.

Prov. Do not tell secrets; do not gossip. Fred: I just learned something really scandalous about the president of our company. Ellen: Well, I don't want to hear it. You shouldn't tell tales out of school.

See also: never, out, school, tell

tell tales out of school

to tell secrets or spread rumors. I wish that John would keep quiet. He's telling tales out of school again. If you tell tales out of school a lot, people won't know when to believe you.

See also: out, school, tell

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Dead men tell no tales.

something that you say which means people who are dead cannot tell secrets I suspect they killed him because he knew too much. Dead men tell no tales.

See also: dead, men, tell

tell tales

to tell someone in authority about something bad that someone has done because you want to cause trouble for them (often + about ) She wasn't very popular at school - she was the sort of kid who was always telling tales about other kids. I had half a mind to tell my boss about him but I didn't want her to think I was telling tales.

See can't tell arse from elbow, live to tell the tale

See also: tell