put one's cards on the table

Meaning: (idiomatic)Torevealone's trueintentions,beliefs,feelings, or other previously concealedfactsabout one's situation; to speakfrankly.1899,Henry James, chapter 4, inThe Awkward Age:"We needn't either of us," she continued, "be concerned for the other's reasons, though I'm perfectly ready, I assure you, toput my cards on the table."1915,John Buchan, chapter 4, inThe Thirty-Nine Steps:I thought the time had come for me toput my cards on the table. I saw by this man's eye that he was the kind you can trust.1921,William MacLeod Raine, chapter 10, inTangled Trails:"Let'sput our cards on the table. We think you're the man the police are looking for—the one described in the papers."2003May 27,Tony Karon, “Mideast: Can Bush Deliver?”, inTime:Although Sharon has neverputallhis cards on the table, he's given plenty of indicators that in his vision, a Palestinian state comprises the 40-50 percent of the West Bank currently under PA jurisdiction.

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