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French expression of the Day: Mon petit doigt m'a dit que

The Local France
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French expression of the Day: Mon petit doigt m'a dit que
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

In English it's a little bird (no, we're not talking about Twitter), but in French it's a little finger.

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Why do I need to know Mon petit doigt m'a dit que?

Because you may want to hint that you know something without saying where you heard it.

What does it mean? 

It 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.

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Suddenly, Aiden Gillan’s scheming Littlefinger character in Game of Thrones makes a lot more sense…

Use it like this

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

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