for me to know and you to find out

9.5

Said when someone will not tell and the other person must find out

idiom

Informal

: es un secreto

When she asked about the surprise party, I just said it's for me to know and you to find out.

Examples

When pressed for details, he replied, "It's for me to know and you to find out."
"Where are we going tonight?" "That's for me to know and you to find out."
She only smiled and said it was for me to know and you to find out when I asked her secret.
That's a secret, it's for me to know and you to find out!
"Where are we going tonight?" "That's for me to know and you to find out."
She only smiled and said it was for me to know and you to find out when I asked her secret.
When pressed for details, he replied, "It's for me to know and you to find out."

Antonyms

to reveal

∞ 2.3

Show something that was hidden or secret

to share

711 1.0

To tell someone about your thoughts, feelings or experiences

How Revealing

revealing

38 4.0

for me to know and you to find out

Informal

9.5

no comment

Literature

47 3.5

to keep quiet

90 2.5

Surface Forms

for me to know and you to find out main

Morphology

for + me + to + know + and + you + to + find + out

The meaning is directly compositional: 'for me to know' signals the speaker holds the information and 'you to find out' signals the listener must discover it, so together they express withholding information until the listener learns it. This follows normal clause-combining patterns and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows the words and basic grammar can infer the intended sense.

Etymology

For me to know and you to find out creates the image of someone keeping a secret, the for me to know part, and leaving the other person to 'find out' later, the you to find out part. So, it is used when the speaker will not 'tell' something and the listener must 'find out' for themselves.