Yoko  +  178082 Mon, 02 Jan 06 03:22 PM Hello, What word is the best choice in the underline spaces? ・We knew that our boss was bald on top but we never mention about it in front of him. 　During the last night's party, he got dead drunk and suddenly  _____________ that he wore false hair.   ・Everyone knew that the famous actor was a gay, so no one was surprised when he _____________ .   The words which poped into my mind are 'come out' and 'out'. That's all. Do you have any alternative words? And if possible, please tell me the similar expressions especially slanguage which can be used in these cases. Thank you, Yoko Joined on Tue, May 18 2004 Junior Member 56 Underline

	pieanne  +  178096 Mon, 02 Jan 06 03:43 PM When talking about gay persons, there's the expression "to come out of the closet" or "make one's coming out", if I'm not wrong. As to the first one, "he" (= the boss) is the subject of the missing verb, so "come out" doesn't fit."Reveal", maybe? Or "let on"? pieanne Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 South of France ...But I'm Belgian! Veteran Member 7,517 I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos... Verbs

	Yoko  +  178123 Mon, 02 Jan 06 04:25 PM Hello pieanne, Thank you for replying so quickly. I know the phrase you provided 'to come out of the closet' and also know this is often used in the curtailed form now. Just  'come out'. But I don' know which is the more popular expression in this case and whether there are more fitted and latest expressions or not. Do you have any idea about it? Yoko

	Yoko  +  178130 Mon, 02 Jan 06 04:33 PM Hello davkett, Thank you for replying. Do you know any other expressions which are not always listed in dictionaries but are very common? Yoko

	davkett  +  178134 Mon, 02 Jan 06 04:42 PM Blurted out Blurted it out blurt:  to utter abruptly and impulsively -- usually used with out   davkett

	Yoko  +  178149 Mon, 02 Jan 06 05:55 PM Thank you davkett!! When other intersting expressions occur to you, please tell me. As far as the situation is similar and a word which means 'to uncover a particular kind of secret' is used,  I don't care whether the other words in the first-posted sentences are changed or not. Yoko

	nona the brit  +  178151 Mon, 02 Jan 06 05:57 PM To reveal a secret is to 'let the cat out of the bag'. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.