IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchSans coup férir
Meaning: Without any resistance at all; effortlessly.
Literally: Without striking a blow
Example: “L'équipe locale a remporté la finale sans coup férir.” — The home team won the final hands down.
English equivalent: Hands down
Equivalents in other languages
English: hands down
Origin: Férir is an archaic verb meaning to strike, from Latin ferire, surviving in modern French essentially only in this phrase and in sans coup férir's cousin, être féru de (to be keen on something). Its obsolescence is why the expression looks odd.
More French idioms
- Riche comme Crésus Enormously wealthy.
- La critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile Faulting a work costs nothing compared with making one.
- Tant va la cruche à l'eau qu'à la fin elle se casse Repeated risk-taking eventually catches up with you.
- Porter la culotte To be the one who makes the decisions in a household.
- N'en avoir cure To be entirely indifferent to something.
- Virer sa cuti To undergo a complete change of convictions.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Didon dîna, dit-on, du dos d'un dodu dindon dont le dodu dos dodine. A 'd' / 'din' / 'dod' avalanche that seems designed to jam the tongue in third gear.
- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
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