to drop a hint or float a leading remark to get someone to reveal information or the truth
Joguei verde dizendo que ouvi um boato, e ela acabou contando tudo.
I floated a hint by saying I'd heard a rumor, and she ended up telling me everything.
The expression is a harvest metaphor: jogar verde ("to throw something green/unripe") is to put out a tentative remark or bait, and colher maduro ("to harvest ripe") is to reap the finished result — the full, revealing information. So you sow an unripe hint in order to gather a ripe truth.
Sources: Dicionário de Expressões, Escreva.ai.
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