Seven everyday French expressions borrowed from the world of sport

With the Olympics fast approaching, the Tour de France underway and the European Championships final on Sunday (France having lost in the semi-finals and England facing Spain), it is a sporty summer for France. 

France is a successful country for sport across almost all disciplines and sport holds an important position in French society and culture. 

It is natural then that many ‘sports’ expressions have bled into everyday language. 

Here are seven such expressions with their origins and how to use them. Au galop ! 

Avoir la tête dans le guidon 

This expression comes from the world of cycling and translates as ‘having your head in your handlebars’.

It means to focus with great attention on a task, like a cyclist would if they put their head down and pedalled as hard as they could. It also has the connotation of not being able to think about anything else or distance yourself from the situation you are in and looking at it from a different perspective. 

A close English equivalent would be ‘having your nose to the grindstone’. 

If you know someone who is revising hard for exams, you could say ‘il a la tête dans le guidon’. 

Read more: Why are Tour de France cyclists called ‘runners’ in French?

Coiffé au poteau 

This is used when someone has been ‘beaten to the punch’. If you were going to suggest an idea to your boss, but a colleague suggests it first, then you could say: ‘j’étais coiffé au poteau’. 

Another English equivalent would be pipped at the post. It originated in the beginning of the 20th century with horse races when the victor would be decided at the last post. 

Coiffer means to style hair (the coiffeurs are the hairdressers), but coiffé in this expression means to dominate or beat so the expression literally means ‘dominated at the post’. 

Dernière ligne droite 

Another term taken from horse racing is dernière ligne droite, which is equivalent to the ‘final stretch’. 

It is commonly used and you can employ it in most situations. For example, if you are helping a child with their homework and you come to the last problem, you could say ‘allez, c’est la dernière ligne droite’ (come on, this is the final stretch). 

Read more: Seven ways to complain like a French person

Jeter l’éponge 

A way to describe someone giving up is saying ‘il a jeté l’éponge’ (‘he threw in the sponge’). It is the exact equivalent of throwing in the towel and also comes from boxing. 

A coach would throw in the towel or the sponge that they would use to clean and cool their boxer to signify that he is stopping the fight because the boxer can no longer compete. 

Il n’y a pas photo

If someone is comparing two things, they may say il n’y a pas photo or, more likely, ‘ya pas photo’ as it will be said orally. 

This means that there is no comparison between the two and one is considerably better than the other. 

It is taken from horse racing when it came down to a photo-finish. 

Mouiller le maillot 

This expression literally means to ‘wet the shirt’. It refers to someone who wets their shirt with their sweat, meaning they have put a lot of effort in. It is used in everyday language to mean someone who works hard to achieve a goal. 

An equivalent expression in English would be ‘to work your socks off’. 

Read more: Which French accents are the hardest to understand?

Garder le cap

Garder le cap (keep the direction) means to stay in the same direction. Similar to ‘stay the course’, it originates from the nautical world. The cap is the direction that the boat is heading in. 

The expression is often used in relation to politics, such as “Obama veut à tout prix garder le cap sur l’environnement” (Obama wants to keep heading in the same direction regarding the environment).