French expression of the Day: Mon petit doigt m'a dit que
In English it's a little bird (no, we're not talking about the site formerly known as Twitter), but in French it's a little finger.
In English it's a little bird (no, we're not talking about the site formerly known as Twitter), but in French it's a little finger.
Because you may want to hint that you know something without saying where you heard it.
The expression mon petit doigt m'a dit que, roughly pronounced mohn puh-tee dwah mah dee kuh (listen here ), literally translates as “my little finger told me”.
But it really means that you've heard something on the quiet or on the down-low - it's the French equivalent of “a little bird told me”.
This expression refers to the only finger that can easily slip into our ear. It implies that we have knowledge or a suspicion of something, without necessarily wanting to reveal the source.
Suddenly, Aiden Gillan’s scheming Littlefinger character in Game of Thrones makes a lot more sense…
Mon petit doigt m'a dit que le bail finissait dans deux mois - I've heard that the lease is up in two months
Mon petit doigt m'a dit que tu fréquentais quelqu'un - A little bird told me that you have been dating someone
