intimation vs telltale

intimation

noun
  • A hint; an obscure or indirect suggestion or notice; a remote or ambiguous reference. 

  • The thing intimated. 

  • Announcement; declaration. 

  • The act of intimating. 

telltale

noun
  • Something that serves to reveal something else. 

  • A bird, the tattler. 

  • A story or fable that has a moral or message. 

  • One who divulges private information with intent to hurt others. 

  • A mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm. 

  • Tattletale; squealer. 

  • A movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected to the bellows of an organ, whose position indicates when the wind is exhausted. 

  • A length of yarn or ribbon attached to a sail or shroud etc to indicate the direction of the flow of the air relative to the boat. 

  • A machine or contrivance for indicating or recording something, particularly for keeping a check upon employees (factory hands, watchmen, drivers, etc.) by revealing to their employers what they have done or omitted. 

  • An indicator, such as a warning light, that serves to warn of a hazard or problem. 

  • A compass in the cabin of a vessel, usually placed where the captain can see it at all hours, and thus inform himself of the vessel's course. 

adj
  • Revealing something, especially something not intended to be known. 

How often have the words intimation and telltale occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )