Sur les chapeaux de roues
Meaning: At top speed; also, of a start, immediately and forcefully.
Language: French
Literally: On the wheel hubcaps
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A car cornering fast enough to lean far over appears to ride on the caps of its wheels rather than the tires. The phrase is used as much of a fast beginning as of literal speed.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Avoir voix au chapitre — To have a say in a decision.
- Trouver chaussure à son pied — To find exactly the right match, usually a partner.
- Ne pas y aller par quatre chemins — To come straight to the point.
- Tous les chemins mènent à Rome — There are many routes to the same result.
- Un chevalier d'industrie — A swindler who lives by his wits at others' expense.
- La cheville ouvrière — The linchpin — the person or thing on which an entire operation turns.
More French idioms
- Une chiffe molle — A spineless person with no will of their own.
- Être au septième ciel — To be in a state of perfect happiness.
- Mettre la clé sous la porte — To shut up shop; to go out of business.
- Ne pas être grand clerc — Not to be much of an expert — used to say that no expertise is needed to see something.
- Déménager à la cloche de bois — To do a moonlight flit, leaving without paying the rent.
- Rater le coche — To miss an opportunity through being too slow.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
Browse all untranslatable words →
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