2023-08-19 07:02:36
This is an expression that people under 800 cannot understand…unless they read 20 Minutes. “Discovering the pot of roses”, we all know, of course, that it is a question of revealing something intentionally concealed. What is less well understood is what this may well have to do with a flowerpot. The answer to this question will probably forever remain… a secret.
One explanation among others
Did Renaissance people already hide their keys under flowerpots? Not at all. The “pot of roses” was something else entirely. This cute name would have designated a small box in which the ladies of good society stored their perfumes. And these ladies used in particular essence of rose. As for the verb “discover”, it then evoked the simple fact… of opening the box in question.
What’s the deal with secrets?
That’s a reasonable question: except to wear perfume on the sly, why would discovering a pot of roses become synonymous with venting a secret (or a deception)? Well, because in the 13th century, it was not uncommon for young women to hide in these boxes… the sweet nothings of their suitors. Keep in mind that we are well before the sexual revolution: in those times, free love was quite frowned upon.
Is this the only explanation?
Not surprisingly, not at all. According to other sources, the expression finds its origin in:
the pot in which perfumers kept their secret formulas; the idea that the famous rose pot contained some magic or secret decoction; a story from Greek mythology relating to Cupid buying the silence of another god with a rose the common metaphor that a rose evokes a female vulva; roses engraved in places where conversations were to remain secret; the fact that the pink that women wore concealed an unsavory complexion.
In short, if the story of the box does not suit you, you are spoiled for choice…
#expression #discover #pot #roses