What does “acqua in bocca” mean? Literally, “water in your mouth”: keep it to yourself, don’t breathe a word. It is the Italian “mum’s the word”, and it works both as a request, mi raccomando, acqua in bocca! and as a promise: tranquillo, acqua in bocca.
The logic of the image is disarming: with a mouthful of water you physically cannot talk. One popular origin story tells of a gossipy woman whose confessor prescribed a sip of blessed water to hold in her mouth whenever the urge to gossip struck. Remedy or legend, the advice survives intact.
Register: informal to neutral. You can use it with colleagues, less so in formal writing. It usually protects nice secrets (a surprise party, a pregnancy not yet announced) rather than dark ones.
Examples
Le abbiamo organizzato una festa a sorpresa: acqua in bocca! — We’ve organised her a surprise party: not a word!
So già il risultato del colloquio, ma acqua in bocca fino a lunedì. — I already know how the interview went, but mum’s the word until Monday.
Puoi dirmelo: con me, acqua in bocca. — You can tell me: my lips are sealed.
Similar expressions in Italian
Non farne parola (don’t mention it to anyone), tenere la bocca chiusa (to keep one’s mouth shut), essere una tomba (“to be a tomb”: said of someone who never leaks a secret).
Exercise
1. You tell a friend about a colleague’s surprise farewell gift. How do you close the sentence?
Show answer
“Acqua in bocca!” You are asking them to keep the secret until the moment comes.
2. Someone asks you to confirm a rumour you promised to keep quiet. What do you answer?
Show answer
“Acqua in bocca” (or “sono una tomba”): your lips are sealed.
More Italian idioms explained in English: chiodo scaccia chiodo, cascare dal pero, essere a cavallo.
