Meaning of KEEP A LID ON IT - A Really Short English Lesson with Subtitles

So we have a phrase in English, "..keep a lid on it..", and this means to keep a secret.

If you don't know what a lid is, I have a pan right here and I also have a lid for the

pan and I can put the lid on the pan.

So now you know what a lid is.

When you say to someone that you want them to keep a lid on it, it means that you want

them to keep a secret.

Maybe you've just applied for and been accepted at a new job but you don't want everyone to

know yet because it's not quite official, but you still want to tell someone that you

trust like a good friend or your mom and dad.

So you might say, "I just applied for a job and I got the job but keep a lid on it because

it's not official yet.

Please keep it a secret because not everyone knows."

So when you say to someone that you want them to keep a lid on something it means that you

want them to keep it a secret.

So if we use this phrase in the past tense we would say, "The other day someone told

me a secret and I kept a lid on it."

Notice "keep" turns to "kept".

So, the other day someone told me a secret and I kept a lid on it.

Today someone told me a secret and I am keeping a lid on it.

Or tomorrow someone will tell me a secret and I will keep a lid on it.

So there you go, past, present and future.

Keep a lid on it means to keep it a secret.