Have you ever sworn someone to absolute secrecy? I know I have – although I was much more inclined to do so as a teenager, when I’d confide in my best friends about my secret crushes. These days, I’m far less likely to let my secrets slip. Age has taught me that, however well-intentioned people may be, hardly anyone can truly keep a segreto!
In English, if we want to tell someone to keep a secret, we might use the very direct phrase Keep it a secret!, the more playful Mum’s the word!, or the rather rude-sounding Keep your mouth shut! In Italian, all of these can be replaced by Acqua in bocca! which literally translates as Water in (the) mouth!
Acqua in bocca!
Mum’s the word! / Keep it a secret!
At its most basic level, the idiom relies on a simple physical reality: if your bocca (mouth) is full of acqua (water), it is physically impossible to speak without dribbling, spitting or swallowing. In other words, keeping water in your mouth forces total silence.
According to the Florentine lexicographer Pietro Giacchi, there is a fun anecdote that gave birth to this idiomatic expression.
Legend has it that there was once a woman who, despite being a devout Christian, had gossipy and spiteful tendencies. She sought the help of her confessor, a local priest, who reportedly gave her a “magical” liquid that he claimed would curb her urge to speak poorly of others and reveal their deepest secrets. He instructed her to place a few drops in her mouth whenever she felt the desire to gossip, and to hold it there until the desire passed. The woman followed the priest’s advice and experienced such positive results that she truly believed the liquid possessed magical powers.
Ti racconto una cosa, ma mi raccomando: acqua in bocca!
I’ll tell you something, but remember: mum’s the word!
Note that this expression has a very different meaning to acquolina in bocca – literally “drool in the mouth” – which is used to say that something, such as a delicious-smelling meal or an attractive drink, makes your mouth water.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
