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These were the first ones that popped up in my mind (disclaimer: I'm not a native English speaker):
He threw me the news a month ago.
He flung the news at me a month ago.
He dropped the news on me a month ago.
Thy don't appear on Google, so I suspect they are not grammatical or idiomatic. But I'm looking something along the lines. Any suggestions?
I would use
He sprang the news on me.
spring on v. To present or disclose something to someone unexpectedly or suddenly: They sprang the news on all their friends that they were having a baby. The company president sprang on us the plan to lay people off.
He broke the news to me a month ago.
This is by far the most idiomatic expression for this meaning, and implies a degree of suddenness to the action -- "He told me a month ago" would likely be used if it were not a somewhat abrupt announcement.
You could consider using drop the news bomb if you want to emphasize the sudden and shocking aspect as in:
The level of excitement among basketball and cartoon lovers the entire world jumped to an extreme level Monday when The Hollywood Reporter dropped the news bomb: Justin Lin, best known for several entries in the "Fast and the Furious" series, is co-writing "Space Jam 2," starring LeBron James.
Trump’s senior adviser, Daniel Scavino, Jr., was among the first to drop the news bomb today.
If you want to underline the fact that the news were disclosed suddenly you may use the idiomatic expression:
- to say something suddenly and unexpectedly:
- He comes out with the strangest things! She comes out with some good ideas though.
Cambridge Dictionary
To drop a bombshell means to disclose surprising and far-reaching news in a sudden manner.
To break the news simply means to disclose information for the first time. In my mind, it has some connotation of suddenness, but I suppose it doesn't have to.
The first two sentences you propose don't work at all. The third is okay, I guess, but here's a great way to express your idea:
to announce shocking or startling news: Friday is a good day to drop a bomb like that. It gives the business world the weekend to recover.
For your example:
He dropped the bomb last month. (Perhaps he announced the company had been sold.)
By far the best answer given above for your discrete situation is:
"He broke the news"
Why:
--"Dropping the bomb"--idiomatic at best, only useful if the information shared will likely be a large (usually upsetting) surprise/ultimatum to the receiver.
--"Spitting out" implies unwillingness on the part of the spitter to share the information, whether or not it is secret information--it implies force of words or brief words but not willingly. In past tense, it is also used to imply something completely different--disgust. (i.e. "You're disgusting!", she spat.)
--"Blurt"/"Spilling" carries the opposite connotation to "spitting out"-- that the speaker can't wait to get it out, but a blurt is often unintentional or uncontrolled, and the author is passing minor judgement on the speaker for being unable to control themselves. It's used of immature speakers (ie children) or overly impulsive speakers, people who can't stop talking or control their words, not just the sudden ones.
What you want to get across is that the news is suddenly shared.
If the scenario is that someone has some news and really wants to tell someone, but is showing temporary self-restraint, then, if they suddenly do tell someone, you can refer to this as “spitting it out”.
e.g.,
Alice: “What’s up? You know something.”
Bob: “I don't, honest.”
Alice “You do; just spit it out.”
Bob: “OK, OK; I ate all the chocolate biscuits.”
He took a sip of water, and without hesitation, he revealed details of the merger to me (his revelation was somewhat unexpected, but not surprising, as it confirmed my belief that the rumor of an upcoming merger was, in fact, true).
