SECRETS

For some strange reason, people have told me secrets I was asked not to divulge under any circumstances. Luckily for them, I can keep a secret. The secret to maintaining secrets is not to tell anyone, no one, no one at all. Do not tell your best friend, mother, son, boss, or anyone else. As soon as you whisper the secret, the chain is broken. Bury the secret in the depths of your being and forget it. English and Spanish have two idiomatic expressions that explain how to guard secrets:

Llevarse uno un (el) secreto a la tumba Carry (take) a secret to the grave

No sé dónde está el dinero; mi abuelo se llevó el secreto a la tumba I don’t know where the money is; my grandfather took the secret to the grave

— “… el conde de Barcelona se llevó el secreto a la tumba.” Luis María Anson, Don Juan, 1994. Esp. || “… estaba decidida a llevarse el secreto a la tumba.” Isabel Allende, Eva Luna, 1987. Chile.

Carry (take) one’s secret to one’s grave Llevarse el secreto a la tumba 

We know nothing of his problems, he carried his secret to his grave No sabemos nada de sus problemas, se llevó el secreto a la tumba

— “Arthur took the secret to his grave and died in jail…” Metro, The Guradian, June 22, 2024. UK.