Literal Translation
My pinky finger told me
Actual Meaning
A little birdie told me
Etymology
At the end of the 19th century, ‘doigt’ was a deformation of ‘dé’, short for “Dieu” (God), known for being ‘capable of knowing everything about everyone’.
For example, this expression can be used by parents when they suspect their children of misbehaving: ‘My pinky told me you ate all the Oreos’ or another example related to tattletales and informers: it’s not your thumb that you put to your ear to accompany your words, but your little finger. Indeed, due to its size, our little finger, the auricular, is the most suitable for serving as an ‘imaginary informer’ in the hollow of the ear.
To illustrate this saying with a well-known line, there’s a good scene in act 2 of Molière’s Le Malade Imaginaire: « Voilà mon petit doigt pourtant qui gronde quelque chose. (Il met son doigt à son oreille.) Attendez. Eh ! Ah, ah ! Oui ?
Oh, oh! voilà mon petit doigt qui me dit quelque chose que vous avez vu, et que vous ne m’avez pas dit. »