What it means
A tattletale is the one who runs to tell on everyone, the kid who informs the teacher the second a rule gets bent, the colleague who reports your two-minute late return from lunch. It's all about getting others in trouble to look good themselves, and nobody trusts a tattletale with a secret. Mostly a playground word, but the type never really grows out of it.
Usage examples
"Don't tell her, she's a tattletale and the whole class will know by recess."
"Nobody likes the office tattletale who clocks everyone's coffee breaks."
Where it comes from
A compound of tattle, to gossip or blab, and tale. It's been the American schoolyard name for a snitch since the 1800s.
Editors of this term
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