Literal translation
we are pretty
Meaning
we're in a real mess
Explanation
This expression means we're in a real mess, and works through biting irony, stating exactly the opposite of what it means. The word poulit means nice, pretty, polite, an eminently positive qualifier: applying it to an embarrassing or unfortunate situation creates a comic gap, exactly as ordinary French says nous voilà dans de beaux draps, where beau ironically qualifies a situation that is anything but enviable. Sian poulit is typically exclaimed at the moment one discovers the consequences of a problem, a mistake, or a mishap, often in the plural since the unfortunate situation concerns several people caught in the same difficulty together. The register is familiar and exclamatory, used in a tone of resigned annoyance or irritation tinged with dark humour. This figure of antiphrasis, naming the opposite of what one feels to better underline the irony of the situation, is a common rhetorical device in popular speech, and this Provençal expression offers a clear, immediately recognisable example of it even out of context.