À tire-larigot
Meaning: In enormous quantities; to excess.
Language: French
Literally: At pull-the-larigot
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: It surfaces early in the 16th century, and for a long time it attached to one verb only: boire. Tirer is to draw liquid out of its container — wine from the cask — and à tire meant without pause, in one go. Which leaves the larigot, and the only firm fact about a larigot is that it was a small flute. From there the guesses fan out. Flutists had a centuries-old reputation as prodigious drinkers; there was an older phrase, flûter pour le bourgeois, meaning to drink like a fish; the period was fond of bawdy double meanings and tirer sur une flûte was never going to escape one; or perhaps the bottle the drinker draws from was simply flute-shaped. None of it explains why the larigot won out over à tire-flûte or à tire-pipeau. A rival account, from Pierre-Marie Quitard in 1842, drops the flute entirely: Rouen cathedral held a ten-ton bell called La Rigaud, and the men hauling on its ropes worked up such a thirst that they drank à tire la Rigaud. Ten tons is a persuasive detail.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Ne pas valoir tripette — To be worthless; to be of no interest whatsoever.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Raconter des salades — To tell lies or tall tales.
- En faire tout un fromage — To make a big deal out of nothing.
More French idioms
- Le torchon brûle — There is open discord — most often between a couple.
- Y a pas à tortiller du cul — Enough hesitating — a decision has to be made. Also: this is simply undeniable.
- Ne pas avoir les yeux en face des trous — To be unable to see what is right in front of you — usually because you are barely awake.
- Fort comme un Turc — Extremely strong and robust.
- Manger de la vache enragée — To live in real poverty; to go through a long stretch of hardship.
- Parler français comme une vache espagnole — To speak French appallingly badly.
From our compliments & insults
- Joli comme un cœur — Utterly charming or adorable.
- Tu as un cœur d'or — You are genuinely kind and generous.
- Tu déchires — You're awesome — you totally rock.
Browse all compliments & insults →
Loading the full interactive collection…