get off one's chest

English

Alternative forms

• take something off one's chest

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

get off one's chest (third-person singular simple present gets off one's chest, present participle getting off one's chest, simple past got off one's chest, past participle (UK) got off one's chest or (US) gotten off one's chest)

1. (informal, idiomatic) To relieve oneself psychologically or emotionally by speaking to someone.
   • 2020, Ava Max, Sorana, Roland Spreckley, Henri Antero Salonen, Cirkut, Jason Gill (lyrics and music), “OMG What's Happening”, in Heaven & Hell‎^[1], performed by Ava Max:

     I wanna tell you things and show you all the rest / Broadcast my emotions on the radio and take them off my chest / I hope you're listening / Are you? Are you?

Translations

to relieve oneself by talking to someone

• Danish: lette sit hjerte
• Finnish: purkaa sydäntään
• French: se libérer d’un poids, vider son sac (fr), dire ce qu’on a sur le cœur (fr)
• German: sein Herz erleichtern, etwas loswerden
• Icelandic: létta af hjarta sínu, létta á hjarta sínu
• Irish: cuir de do chroí
• Italian: togliersi un peso dallo stomaco, sfogarsi (it), aprirsi (it), rivelarsi (it)
• Portuguese: desabafar (pt)
• Spanish: desahogarse (es), desfogarse (es), quitarse un peso de encima, sacarse un peso de encima, sacarse una espina, franquearse (es), sincerarse (es)
• Swedish: lätta på hjärtat

See also

• get the dirty water off one's chest
• make a clean breast
• out of one's system