French Phrase of the Day: Sur un coup de tête

Local France

02-06-2025

Why do I need to know
sur un coup de tête?
Because
sometimes this is the best way to make a decision.
What does it mean?
Sur un coup de tête
- roughly pronounced sir uhn koo duh teht - translates as 'on a headbutt', the violent physical action that some Brits may know as a 'Glasgow kiss'.
For instance, if you were paying attention to French sports in 2006, you might have seen headlines about the famous
Coup de tête de Zidane
(the Zidane headbutt).
But when used with '
sur
' it means to do something spontaneously or without much reflection.
Most of the time, you would use this expression to describe something done on a whim. For example, you might say
Il s'est inscrit au marathon sur un coup de tête
(He signed up for the marathon on a whim).
In terms of the origins of
sur un coup de tête
- according to
Linternaute
, it has to do with the contrast between the words
coup
and
tête
. People use their heads to think and reflect, while
coup
describes a quick, punctual action (like a kick), so making a decision
sur un coup de tête
would mean doing something without thinking of the consequences.
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It is similar to the French expression
sur le coup
, which means 'in the moment' or 'at the time'.
If you are looking for a synonym, though, you can opt for either
impulsivement
(impulsively) or
sans réflechir
(without thinking).
Use it like this
Il y a 30 ans, j'ai décidé de commencer à peindre sur un coup de tête. Je ne l'ai jamais regretté. -
I decided to start painting on a whim 30 years ago, and I have never regretted it.
Sur un coup de tête, il achète des billets de train pour rendre visite à son pote à Bordeaux.
- On a whim, he bought train tickets to visit his friend in Bordeaux.