Manger le morceau

Expression: Manger le morceau

Pronunciation: [ma(n) zhay leu muhr so]

Meaning: to talk, spill the beans, come clean

Literal translation: to eat the piece

Register: familiar

Notes: The French expression manger le morceau is a little weird, using the idea of eating/swallowing something to indicate movement in the opposite direction. Unless maybe the morceau is meant to be a piece of some sort of truth serum. The variations lâcher le morceau (literally, "to let go of the piece") and cracher le morceau ("to spit the piece") seem more logical.

Be sure to use the definite article, as manger un morceau means "to have a bite to eat."

Example
   Il ne voulait pas me dire ce qui s'était passé, mais il a enfin mangé le morceau.
   He didn't want to tell me what happened, but he finally came clean.

Post your comments about the French expression manger le morceau on my French blog - just hit "comments" at the bottom of the post.


More

• Manger conjugations
• Most common French phrases