un secret de polichinelle
Preserved but no longer current.
No secret at all. A secret known to all the world; an open secret. PoUchinelle is the Punch of the old French puppet-shows, and his secrets are "stage whispers'* told to all the audience. Entre nous, c'est qu'on appelle Le secret de pohchinelle.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “un secret de polichinelle” mean?
No secret at all. A secret known to all the world; an open secret. PoUchinelle is the Punch of the old French puppet-shows, and his secrets are "stage whispers'* told to all the audience. Entre nous, c'est qu'on appelle Le secret de pohchinelle.
Is “un secret de polichinelle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.