“Firing on all cylinders”in other languages
Working at full power.
English
French
Spanish
Same idea, different pictures
English comes from the car engine, which only runs at full power when every cylinder fires. Spanish ir que chuta says things are going so well they shoot forward.
French être au taquet pushes until it hits the stop. A taquet is a block that keeps something from going further: you're giving everything, right up to the limit.
More sayings in other languages
- Flat broke
- Flat out
- Beat a dead horse
- Fly off the handle
- Not see beyond the end of one's nose
- Get back on one's feet
- Get on someone's nerves
- Get out of hand
- Get the short end of the stick