Avoir un Polichinelle dans le tiroir is a French idiom that translates literally to “to have a puppet (or marionette) in the drawer”, and means “to have a bun in the oven” or “to be pregnant”.
Avoir un Polichinelle dans le tiroir
To have a bun in the oven, to be pregnant
Example sentence
Marie est tellement heureuse récemment : elle a un Polichinelle dans le tiroir et elle passe sont temps à préparer la chambre du bébé.
Marie has been so happy lately. She has a bun in the oven and is spending time preparing the baby’s bedroom.
Notes on today’s sentence
- The sentence uses the form passer son temps à + infinitive, which means “to spend time doing”. This lesson explores passer (to pass, spend time) in depth.
- Both adverbs tellement and si are synonyms meaning “so + adjective”.
- La chambre is short for la chambre à coucher (bedroom), which can be confused with la pièce (general word for room).
Expression origin
Polichinelle is a marionnette or doll that comes from the character Pulcinella in the Italian la commedia dell’arte (comedy of art). Pulcinelle is related to pulcino in Italian, which means “chick” in English. The tiroir (drawer) is a metaphor for the woman’s stomach.
Related lessons
Reference
French expressions | Lessons by David Issokson
