The sentence is, 'マスコミにバラしてもいいんですよ？' What does this mean, literally?

Also, is this figure of speech frequently used? If it is, could you please
give me some instances when it is used in daily life?

Thank you.
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2013-10-16T15:02:50.813
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2019-02-11T15:31:28.390
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usage translation meaning idioms
What is the literal meaning of 'マスコミにバラして'?
With all due respect, I must state that thinking that a sentence automatically
becomes a question if it has a question mark at its end is a very Japanese-as-
a-foreign-language-esque way of thinking. The question mark itself is a
relatively new phenomenon in the history of the Japanese language; therefore,
we tend to use it more freely than the speakers of other languages that have
been using the question mark longer.

Not sure if the members like this analogy but to me it is like sushi. Where
sushi is relatively new, such as in North America, people make sushi more
freely than the Japanese do --- like by using cream cheese and avocado or
deep-frying sushi as with the volcano rolls.

The sentence 「マスコミにバラしてもいいんですよ？」 is 100% natural-sounding and "correct" by
native speakers' standards, period. Grammatically, it is a statement but is
read with a rising intonation at its end, which is the purpose of the use of
the question mark by the author. In informal writing, this (the combo of
statement and question mark) is often used to let the reader know that the
speaker expects the other person's opinion or reaction to the statement. You
may think of this as an unstated "Is that OK?" or "What do ya think?"

We do exactly the same thing in oral conversations when we say a statement
with a rising intonation. Naturally, this is without using a question mark.

Finally, a couple of "real-life" examples:

  1. A group of 4 dudes are in a house and it is about noon. Taro volunteers to cook ramen for the entire group but one of the other three says he is not hungry. Taro might say as he starts toward the kitchen:

「マジで？マサちゃんお腹空いてないんだぁ。じゃあ3人分しか作んないよ？」 For those unfamiliar with Tokyo dialect,
作んない means 作らない.

  2. You and your friend are walking towards school when your friend says 「ヤベっ！数学の教科書家に置いてきちゃった！ごめん、取ってくる。」 Because your first class starts soon, you could not wait for him to come back. You might say:

「そうなんだ、しかたないねぇ。んじゃ悪いけどオレ先に行っちゃうよ？」
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2013-10-17T01:50:46.957
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Just to make sure you don't miss this point:

The lady is trying to blackmail the principal into firing the teacher by
threatening to spill the beans to the media, thereby damaging the reputation
of the school.

> マスコミにバラしてもいいんですよ

"I'll go to the media if I have to" or something like that. As others have
explained, the question mark doesn't really turn this into a question, it just
indicates that the speaker is looking for a response, i.e. a hidden "Does this
change your mind?" or something like that.
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2013-10-17T03:02:06.863
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