We are used to the fact that a secret is valuable information that is best kept from outsiders. Secrets are serious business. But when it comes to the open secret, the perception changes.
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What does “Open Secret” mean?
This phraseological unit denotes a certain secret, which is actually known to everyone. In Russian, they say about this “in secret to the whole world.” Let’s find out how such an unusual expression with a French touch came about.
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How did the expression “Open Secret” come about?
The phrase “the secret of the Polichinelle” in French looks like “Le secret de Polichinelle”. Such a frivolous secret is connected with the name of the character of the French folk theater. There he is called Polichinelle, but the name was borrowed from the Italian comedy mask hero Pulcinella. The Russian analogue can be called the jester Petrushka.
This character is a stupid and talkative hunchback servant. This jester, mocker and bully, as a secret, told everyone obvious and well-known things. The character of the fair theaters became Polichinelle at the end of the 16th century, and in the next century this hero appeared in Molière’s comedy The Imaginary Sick.
The Open Secret is not just a secret that everyone knows about and pretends to be a secret, but also information that remains inaccessible to the most stupid. In one of the popular stories, Polichinel’s wife, Colombina, is cheating on him with Harlequin. All the characters in the play know about this “secret”. It’s just that our hero himself doesn’t even know about treason, although you just need to ask any person from the environment about it.
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