Give the game away

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Meaning

Reveal a secret, hidden intention, plan, or surprise, often inadvertently, so that a deception is exposed or the intended surprise is spoiled. The expression is informal.

Origin

'Give away' has the established sense 'reveal or betray', and dictionaries treat 'give the game away' as making a secret plan, intention, activity, or surprise known. The image is readily understood as exposing the game being played, but the consulted evidence does not establish a particular card game, sport, incident, or inventor, so those more specific origin stories should be avoided. Collins also records 'give the show away' in the same reveal-or-betray sense. It is best treated as a parallel lexical variant, not as proof of a separate theatrical origin or of which wording came first.

Research Sources

  1. give the game away Cambridge University Press
  2. give the game away Merriam-Webster
  3. give away Collins English Dictionary

Variants

  • Give the show away
  • Give the whole game away
  • Give the whole show away

Usage Examples

  • A guest mentioned the cake before the birthday girl arrived and gave the game away.
  • The supposedly anonymous memo used the director's favourite turn of phrase, which gave the game away.
  • Keep the prototype covered during the tour or its shape will give the game away to our competitors.

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