Help! What does this phrase mean?

Question:Where does the phrase "If I tell you, then I'd have to kill you" come from? I've seen it alot in movies like A walk to remember, etc. What is the meaning of this? or where did it originate from

Answers:
The earliest movie usage I can find is from "Top Gun" (1986), but I have a feeling that it probably goes back much further.

Charlie: Excuse me, Lieutenant. Is there something wrong?
Maverick: Yes ma'am, the data on the MiG is inaccurate.
Charlie: How's that, Lieutenant?
Maverick: Well, I just happened to see a MiG 28 do a...
Goose: We!
Maverick: Uh, sorry Goose. WE happened to see a MiG 28 do a 4g negative dive.
Charlie: Where did you see this?
Maverick: Uh, that's classified.
Charlie: It's what?
Maverick: It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
no idea about the origin, but it means that the answer to whatever was asked of them is a very big secret. if anybody else knew about it, they'd have to be killed to prevent the secret from being let out.
I don't know where it came from but it's probably some secret no one is suppose to know about or it is dangerous for you if you know about it
It means something is TOP SECRET, meaning that anyone who knows the secret would need to be destroyed.
I dont know where it originates from, but my best guess would be the government.
"If I tell you, I'd have to kill you" is a phrase we hear jokingly all the time regarding secrets.

i read somewhere that the phase is possible to have originated in the 70's with a tory about a US marine soldier in an incident with a frenchman.
It started from an even more obscure phrase, "Two can keep a secret, if one of them are dead", which may (or may not) trace back to the old saying attributed to various pirates "dead men tell no tales".
I think it was actually a movie line originally, but it eludes to top secret information. If the hearer doesn't have the same clearance they shouldn't have the information, to it's a warning, you can't know this information because if you did, I'd have to kill you! So, I won't tell you.
I think movie producers made this one, but it means there is a huge secret, and that the person doesn't want it to get out.
It originated in the CIA many,many,moons ago,it's meaning is so secret that if I tell you,then I'd have to kill you to keep this secret a secret. (DO YOU GET IT NOW)
I think it is from one of the Ocean movies 12 I think.

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