職員会議で先生のオナラがバレた日

What does “バレる” mean in Japanese?

バレる (bareru) means to be discovered, exposed, or caught red-handed — used any time something someone tried to hide comes to light, from a lie to a secret to, in this case, a fart. It’s intransitive (no one “reveals” it on purpose; it just becomes known), and it’s extremely common in everyday Japanese conversation, gossip, and comedy sketches built around someone trying — and failing — to keep something quiet.

In the clip, a teacher farts during a staff meeting and spends the rest of the scene deflecting (“it wasn’t me,” “must be someone’s stomach”) while colleagues close in on the truth, until the meeting essentially ends with him outed. Related forms show up constantly: バレバレ (“totally obvious, already given away”) and 秘密がバレた (“the secret got out”). Compare it to 隠す (“to hide”) — バレる is what happens when hiding fails.