FrenchPousser les feux
Meaning: To intensify effort or energy; to redouble one's exertions to achieve a goal.
Literally: To push the fires
Example: “À deux jours du lancement, toute l'équipe pousse les feux.” — Two days before the launch, the whole team is going full steam ahead.
English equivalent: To go full steam ahead
Equivalents in other languages
English: full steam ahead
Origin: The feux are the fires under a steam boiler, and pousser les feux is stoking them hard so the pressure rises and the engine gives full power: the Académie française recorded it as a navy term in 1932, from the days of coal-fired steamships. It is also said of turning up the heat under cooking. Figuratively, it means making an all-out push, typically just before a deadline.
More French idioms
- Courir après les cotillons To pursue amorous or romantic adventures.
- Tirer les oreilles To scold someone harshly or punish them.
- Avoir de la tchatche To be talkative and persuasive, to have the gift of gab.
- Tomber à l’eau To be canceled or abandoned.
- Ne plus savoir où donner de la tête To be overwhelmed with work or demands.
- Avoir les yeux qui sortent de la tête To stare with eyes wide open in anger or astonishment.
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