Pronounced: dih-STRAY, adj
Notes: I’ve been running into this word a lot lately; it’s a useful word to know, with an interesting history
Yesterday’s phrase
The phrase secret of Polichinelle is “a supposed secret that’s widely known; an open secret”
First usage
Our phrase came into English in the mid-1800s
Background / Comments
Our phrase came to us from the French phrase secret de Polichinelle. “Polichinelle” is a classic character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, which it is called “Pulcinella”. In English, this character is called “Punchinello” — sometimes shortened to “Punch”.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 