FrenchDécouvrir le pot aux roses
Meaning: To uncover a hidden secret.
Literally: To discover the pot of roses
Example: “La police a fini par découvrir le pot aux roses.” — The police finally uncovered what was really going on.
English equivalent: To get to the bottom of it
Origin: Découvrir first meant to take the lid off, so the phrase is lifting the lid of a pot of roses. Wiktionnaire finds it in the 13th century, and the Académie française's first dictionary (1694) defines it as uncovering the secret of an affair, to the shame of those who had hidden it. The usual explanation is that a pot aux roses was a small pot of rose perfume or rouge kept by well-off women, in which love notes or secrets could also be hidden; that last detail is not confirmed.
Equivalents in other languages
Dutch: Nu komt de aap uit de mouw Literally: Now the monkey comes out of the sleeve
Hungarian: Kibújik a szög a zsákból Literally: The nail pokes out of the sack
More French idioms
- Être dans de beaux draps To be in a real mess.
- Se faire rouler dans la farine To be conned or deceived.
- Tirer le diable par la queue To struggle to make ends meet.
- Passer du coq à l'âne To switch topics abruptly and illogically.
- Avoir le melon To be bigheaded and conceited.
- Mettre la charrue avant les bœufs To do things in the wrong order.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Faute d'un point, Martin perdit son âne A tiny mistake can cost you dearly.
- Après la pluie, le beau temps Bad times are followed by good ones.
- Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué Don't count on a gain before you actually have it.
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