Tirer son coup
Meaning: For a man, to have an orgasm. Vulgar.
Language: French
Literally: To fire one's shot
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The firearm reading is the obvious one and also the right one: a gun of the period fired a single shot and then needed long manual reloading, which made the metaphor unsubtle enough to last. The underlying sense of coup (blow, stroke, shot) is much older — the poet Guillaume Coquillart already uses it this way in the 15th century — and before firearms spread, the equivalents came from the tournament ground: rompre des lances or rompre du bois (to break lances, to break wood), the second still in Montaigne in 1580. Tirer son coup itself was current by the 17th century. It normally carries a dismissive, self-centered edge, casting the other person as a means to an end, and it has since been claimed for women's use as well, carrying exactly the same edge.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
- Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
- Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof — I don't understand anything at all.
- Schwein haben — Getting unexpectedly lucky — rooted in medieval tournaments where the last-place finisher…
More French idioms
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
- Poser un lapin — To stand someone up on a date.
- 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.
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