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Tout schuss

Meaning: Flat out; or straight down, without deviating.

Language: French

Literally: All shot

Category: Daily Life

Origin: One of very few French expressions to come off a ski slope. Any German speaker will point out that Schuss means a shot or gunfire, which seems unpromising — but Schussfahrt is the German for a straight descent following the fall line, and the French phrase is an apocope of that. Someone who takes a piste tout schuss, rather than picking his way down like a beginner, is going both straight and very fast, which covers both senses. It stays rare outside ski resorts.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • Chanter comme une seringue / Chanter comme une casserole — To sing badly out of tune.
  • 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.

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.

From our untranslatable words

  • Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
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