This name has long become almost a household name. If someone, under the guise of a great secret, reports something long known, those around him ironically remark: “This, brother, is an open secret.” Who is he, such a popular character?
Brothers Openchinel in the acting department
Each nation has its own farce or puppet theater. Each theater has its own jester who makes everyone laugh with his pranks, jokes and imaginary secrets about other participants in the performance. For Russian itinerant actors, this is Petrushka, for Italian it is Pulcinella, for Czech it is Kashparek, but the French folk theater is unthinkable without Polichinelle. It was he who became the progenitor of the aphorism "the secret of the Open". No wonder, because this cheerful character is only busy in performances with blurting out everything that happens and will happen in action with him or with others, and he doesn’t care in the least whether the audience knows about it or not. Everything is presented with a very conspiratorial air, as befits a fair jester. Ridiculous and hunchbacked, he knows how to touch and make the audience laugh, chatting incessantly and filling all the pauses.
Open secret in literature
Perhaps the most famous author of the late twentieth century, exploiting the image of a jester with the most serious face, can be called the French writer Frederic Dar. And one of his most popular books both at home and among Russian readers is The Open Secret. The meaning of this title for the work, declared as a detective, initially makes it clear: everything that is happening and will happen is not serious. And if you are serious, then this can be treated with a great deal of humor. Which is what the main character does, whom the author called by his own pseudonym - San Antonio. There is everything here: military operations, espionage, and romantic relationships, and all this is described in a surprisingly beautiful, ironic style. People who know the original language argue that it is impossible to convey all the nuances of Dar's sparkling humor in translation.
Someone even draws a parallel with Fedot the Archer by Leonid Filatov, which is difficult to imagine translated into another language. If we talk about classical works in which the concept of “open secret” was played up, then one cannot help but recall the immortal comedy of Molière “The Imaginary Sick”, where this cheerful and cunning character is fully involved. And in the sense of being mentioned in Russian literature, the expression "Polichenel's secret" can argue with any phraseological unit. Let us recall F. M. Dostoevsky: “You’re lying, you damned open chin!” ("Crime and Punishment"). In M. Kolesnikov's book “This was Richard Sorge”, in a dialogue about the essence of state secrets, this expression is also used, meaning that all these secrets have long been made public, which means they are imaginary.
Open in politics
It has been noticed that well-known politicians, starting with the President of Russia, often use this expression, saying that there is no secret in this or that issue or dispute. With pleasure, journalists trump "open secrets", showing their awareness and ironically over those who take any outdated information for fresh news. In a word, one must be grateful to the character of the French booth for such a useful image filled with deep meaning.
Open secret- a secret that everyone already knows, an imaginary secret, "a secret - for the whole world."
The expression comes from the name of the comic character of the Commedia dell'arte - Polichinel (fr. Polichinelle from ital. Pulcinella - Pulcinella). The character is a stupid servant, a bully, a jester and a talker who reported things known to everyone under the guise of secrets. It appeared on the stage of the fair theater at the end of the 16th century. In the 17th century, Moliere introduced him to the comedy The Imaginary Sick.
The expression "open secret" means a secret that is not such, it's just that everyone pretends that this is actually a secret, and only one of the most stupid people does not know it. One of the common plots was as follows: Columbine, the wife of Openchinelle, is cheating on him with Harlequin. All the characters know this secret, but do not talk about it, because everyone already knows everything. Only one Polichinel does not know about the betrayal, since he does not even think of asking anyone.
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An excerpt characterizing the Open Secret
- I hate it, I hate it! And you are my enemy forever!Natasha ran out of the room.
Natasha did not speak to Sonya anymore and avoided her. With the same expression of agitated surprise and criminality, she paced the rooms, taking up first this and then another occupation and immediately abandoning them.
No matter how hard it was for Sonya, she kept her eyes on her friend.
On the eve of the day on which the count was supposed to return, Sonya noticed that Natasha had been sitting all morning at the living room window, as if waiting for something and that she had made some kind of sign to the passing military man, whom Sonya mistook for Anatole.
Sonya began to observe her friend even more attentively and noticed that Natasha was in a strange and unnatural state all the time of dinner and evening (she answered inappropriately to questions put to her, began and did not finish phrases, laughed at everything).
After tea, Sonya saw a timid maid waiting for her at Natasha's door. She let it through, and, eavesdropping at the door, learned that the letter had again been handed over. And suddenly it became clear to Sonya that Natasha had some kind of terrible plan for this evening. Sonya knocked on her door. Natasha didn't let her in.
“She will run away with him! Sonya thought. She is capable of anything. To-day there was something particularly pathetic and resolute in her face. She burst into tears, saying goodbye to her uncle, Sonya recalled. Yes, that's right, she runs with him - but what should I do? thought Sonya, now recalling those signs that clearly proved why Natasha had some kind of terrible intention. "There is no count. What should I do, write to Kuragin, demanding an explanation from him? But who tells him to answer? Write to Pierre, as Prince Andrei asked in case of an accident? ... But maybe, in fact, she had already refused Bolkonsky (she sent a letter to Princess Marya yesterday). There are no uncles!” It seemed terrible to Sonya to tell Marya Dmitrievna, who believed so much in Natasha. But one way or another, Sonya thought, standing in a dark corridor: now or never the time has come to prove that I remember the good deeds of their family and love Nicolas. No, I won’t sleep for at least three nights, but I won’t leave this corridor and won’t let her in by force, and won’t let shame fall on their family, ”she thought.
Polichinelle is a fictional comic character, a collective image of a jester who was born on the stage of the French puppet theater at the end of the sixteenth century.
Pulcinella (Pulcinella), the Italian character of the comedy of masks, or commedia dell'arte, in England turned into Punch, in the Czech Republic - into Kashparek, in Russia - into Petrushka, and in France - into Polichinel.
Outwardly unsightly - a bully in a dress and cap, a lover of chatting and having fun, tells secrets that everyone knows, but - as he claims - "they don't dare to voice it." He very quickly wins the sympathy of the audience of the puppet theater, causing endless laughter with his actions and stories.
His function in the play, like that of his jester relatives, is to ridicule human vices, including stupidity, which he himself symbolizes. One of the most famous and popular stories about Openchinelle is the betrayal of his wife (Colombina) with Harlequin. All the heroes of the play knew about this, except for the jester himself. But no one told him about it, because everyone already knows this. And he himself did not manage to ask anyone about it.
What does the phrase "open secret" mean?
The expression "open secret" has become winged, and it is used in cases where they want to show the absurdity of the announced information. Many politicians use this phraseological unit in their texts and speeches. Therefore, you can often hear or read the phrase: "Their secret is like an open secret." This means that this secret has long been made public or never has been. After all, Polichinel himself, under the guise of a secret, told everyone known things.
The meaning of an expression that has come down to the present from the past is to report facts that have long been known. But another hidden meaning of the phrase is to skillfully pretend that this hackneyed truth was heard for the first time.
Once he asked those around him if they knew who the king of France was, and when he heard the answer - Louis, he laughed and replied that the king was a fool! Those around him agreed with him, but noted that they knew this even without him. It turns out that Openchinel had no secret, but at the same time he knew how to interest those around him with his imaginary secret, and even - oddly enough - managed to take money for voicing it.
Therefore, the secret that everyone knows, except for the most gullible and stupid, is called the “Open Secret”. And people who seek to take on a mysterious look and hide popular facts from others are called "Pure".
If you like riddles and mysteries, then we are ready to reveal to you open secret. What is this? Where did it come from and why is it so popular today? Every intelligent person should understand the meaning of such common.
Let's start with a brief background.
Every nation has its own image of the classic jester. B - this is Petrusha, among the Italian itinerant actors - Pulcinella, among the Czechs - Kashparek.
But Polichinelle is a comic character of the French folk theater.
Polichinelle
Polichinelle is a stupid servant, jester and talker. He constantly tells the public well-known things under the guise of a secret. And he does it with the appearance of a conspirator.
Moreover, he constantly warns listeners not to reveal his secrets to anyone.
The meaning of phraseologism "Open secret"
The open secret is called the well-known things that are presented in the form of an unknown secret. In other words, it is an imaginary secret or an imaginary secret.
It often happens that on television some upstart tries to look smart, and cites the “open secret” as an argument. Sometimes the presenter cannot help but play a joke on such a "pioneer".
In one story, the protagonist says:
“You surprise me, prince, and I don’t recognize you. You fall into an open tone; these unexpected revelations…”.
How did phraseologism appear
In general, Openchinelle, as a result of folk art, had many funny stories. One of the most popular was next.
His wife Columbine cheated on him with Harlequin. All the actors have known about this for a long time, and only the hunchbacked jester Openchinelle has no idea about anything.
In the end, it is only worth adding that in our time this phraseological unit is very common due to the extreme politicization of people. Many things that are known to everyone are often not declared by officials. That is why they are actively “called names” as open secrets.
Now your piggy bank of knowledge has been replenished with a new popular expression, and the open secret has been fully revealed.
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Just think, an open secret! This means that there is no secret. The imaginary secret, which everyone knows, is what we call the "open secret". The word "secret" does not require clarification, but who is Polichinel?
The name Polichinelle came to us from the French language (Polichinelle), and in French it is from Italian (Pulcinella - Pulcinella). Polichinelle - a character of the French folk theater, first appeared on fairgrounds at the end of the 16th century, is believed to have been close to the mask of Pulcinella from the Italian commedia dell'arte. Dahl's dictionary describes Polichinelle as a harlequin, a motley jester, sometimes two-humped, big-nosed, bow-legged, shrill. Dahl compares this character with our Petrushka. He acted as the host of the puppet show, informing the audience in a loud whisper about the characters of the play or about how events would develop. It is clear that this was no longer a secret to the audience. Hence the "open secret". Hence the capital letter in the word "Open".
Step siblings
"Who is she to him?" - "Step sister". This can be said about children who appeared during remarriages, from a common father or common mother. We use this word without thinking about its exact meaning. But in vain! There is a precise meaning, and it is important when you need to settle legal issues.
Consolidated relatives is a state of kinship that occurs when two parents enter into a second marriage for each of them. But this is the state of kinship between their children from previous marriages! In other words, stepbrothers do not have common parents. They are connected by family relationships, not biological kinship. They are "reduced" into one family - even if they do not actually live in the same family.
How to call brothers and sisters who have a common father or mother? If the children have a common father, they are consanguineous; if the same mother, they are consanguineous. It is possible that these names seem too "physiological", which is why they prefer to talk about half-brothers and sisters. Error!
