# tiré à quatre épingles



## slowpez

Bonjour, j'ai trouvé l'expression, "tiré à quatre épingles" dans le livre "Touriste de bananes" par Georges Simenon. Quelqu'un pourrait me renseigner qu'est'ce que ça veut dire cette expression? Merci.

Moderator's note: several threads have been merged to create this one


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## charlie2

To be immaculately dressed?


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

*tiré à quatre épingles : dressed fit to kill / spruced up*


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## Gil

> Être tiré à quatre épingles. Être vêtu avec un soin méticuleux. Tu as toujours été belle, ondulée, tirée à quatre épingles, élégante, brillante (COCTEAU, Par. terr., 1938, I, 2, p. 195). Beaucoup de ménagères, pas du tout tirées à quatre épingles ce soir de veille de fête sainte (CENDRARS, Bourlinguer, 1948, p. 251).


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## Troupian

Jean-Michel
I am not sure that I agree with you. "Dressed (fit) to kill" is undoubtedly slightly perjorative which I had never thought the French expression under consideration to be. Correct me if I'm wrong.
"Spick and span"; "Impeccably turned out" (better) might fill bill.


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## Gil

> Dressed to the nines
> It means you are dressed very smartly or elaborately.


Source:  there


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## charlie2

"...dresses up to the nines ..." And the song goes "... at sixes and sevens with you." In the same movie and in another song, if my memory serves me correctly, Christian Dior was used as a verb, meaning to dress oneself expensively (and well too, probably).


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## zam

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=65436&highlight=up+to+the+nines

See the above, Q already covered.

Incidentally, I agree that 'dressed to kill' (= 'to be out to impress') is not really suited here but 'spruced up' is a lot better.


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## slowpez

Thanks all, this fits the character in question to a tee.


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## SOFICHAN

Bonjour,

Quelqu'un connait-il la traduction de l'expression de "*être tiré à quatre épingles*". Dans le sens d'être bien habillé bien sûr,
Merci d'avance
Sophie


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## mapping

a very common expression is "neatly dressed".


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## Nil-the-Frogg

Hello,

I've found "well turned out" as a possible translation, but I'm looking for something that could also be used in a derogatory way, meaning the person is deemed excessively neat.


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## Suehil

'Neat as a pin', or 'not a hair out of place' are not really derogatory, but they both imply that the neatness is a bit overdone.  More derogatory but less descriptive would be 'overneat' or 'overdressed' - but the latter doesn't mean quite the same thing.


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## edwingill

dressed up to the nines?


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## kiwi-di

edwingill said:


> dressed up to the nines?


Not necessarily derogatory if you were talking about someone dressed up for a very special occasion; in that case I'd take it as a compliment. 

I'll keep thinking about this one - there must be something.


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## Nil-the-Frogg

Please, note that "tiré à quatre épingles" isn't derogatory either. It _can _be used in a derogatory comment with appropriate context (and that's how I intend to use it in my text).


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## kiwi-di

Nil-the-Frogg said:


> Please, note that "tiré à quatre épingles" isn't derogatory either. It _can _be used that way (and that's how I intend to use it in my text).


I didn't previously think it was [derogatory] - maybe if you give us the whole text we'll come up with a suitable suggestion.


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## Suehil

Then I would go for 'not a hair out of place' 
(Is anyone old enough to have seen the old TV series 'The Saint' - Roger Moore would have the most enormous fights and emerge with, literally, not a hair out of place)


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## juliobenjimino

edwingill said:


> dressed up to the nines?


Said with a certain facial expression (raised eyebrow) with the right tone, this can be devastatingly derogatory


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## Nil-the-Frogg

kiwi-di said:


> I didn't previously think it was [derogatory] - maybe if you give us the whole text we'll come up with a suitable suggestion.


This would be rather difficult, but the context is a slack cop speaking about his always neat and perfumed commander. They hate each other.

I've got an idea, which is admittedly going away from the original: "this hoity toity peacock...". How is it?


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## Suehil

'That stuck-up, lavender-scented clothes-horse', perhaps.  
Now I know what you meant


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## juliobenjimino

Suehil said:


> 'That stuck-up, lavender-scented clothes-horse', perhaps.
> Now I know what you meant


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## kiwi-di

Suehil said:


> 'That stuck-up, lavender-scented clothes-horse', perhaps.


Parfait.


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## Nil-the-Frogg

Suehil said:


> 'That stuck-up, lavender-scented clothes-horse', perhaps.
> Now I know what you meant


The moment I saw you posting in this thread, I knew you would make the connection. Your suggestion here is very Hitchgins-like.  Or it would be if I was able to write that myself. 

Thanks.


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## finaud

I have seen 'dapper' used in another thread(dapper)


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## Kitcitwapien

be as neat as a new pin
be as neat as a band box


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## Suehil

Also, 'perfectly groomed'.


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## custard apple

Does the expression tend to refer to males or females ?


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## Triffle

Tiré à 4 épingles means "dressed up" regardless of the gender.


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## Suehil

So do all the suggestions except 'dapper'.


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## custard apple

Thanks triffle and Sue.  I thought I would check because that "dapper" suggestion threw me a bit.


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## edwingill

"to be immaculately dressed"


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## Nyanaponika

J'ai trouvé cette expression dans le livre 'Mon Père l'Étranger', et bien que je me pense pouvoir la comprendre dans le contexte, je serais très content d'avoir aucune explication.

Le père de l'auteur, un immigrant polonais à Paris pendant les années 1920, reçoit une lettre de son oncle en Pologne qui décrit la joie de la famille quand ils ont des nouvelles (et un cadeau) de lui. Il écrit: 'Le petit sautait de joie. Aron était revenu de Lodz, *tiré a quatre épingles * .....' 

Je suppose que l'expression pourrait vouloir dire quelque chose comme  'excited' ... ou peut être 'on tenterhooks' mais je ne la trouve pas dans le dictionnaire. 

Merci en avance!

p.s. I do know that Aron did not return from Lodz 'pulled by four pins' or maybe ....


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## marcanne

'dressed up to the nines' pourrait convenir ..


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## franc 91

He's put on his best clothes, he's all dressed up, he's very elegantly dressed (up to the nines - but no one ever says that nowadays)


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## Nyanaponika

*Thank you both very much* for your speedy replies! I see I was quite wrong in my guess and it was well worth asking. It _does_ have to do with épingles after all, more directly than I'd imagined.


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## xiancee

He is spick and span?


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## Nyanaponika

Thanks xiancee. for another good expression. I would use 'spick and span' more to refer to shiny cleanliness - for example, of a kitchen or a starched white uniform, but maybe this is what is implied here as well by _tiré à quatre épingles_.


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## Nicomon

Nyanaponika said:


> Thanks xiancee. for another good expression. I would use 'spick and span' more to refer to shiny cleanliness - for example, of a kitchen or a starched white uniform, but maybe this is what is implied here as well by _tiré à quatre épingles_.


 Hello Nyanaponika, and welcome to the forum. 

So would I. Especially that Spic and Span (no K) is the brand name of a household cleaning product, in America. 
I think this page (about the origin of the expression "spick and span") is interesting. 

Dated as it may be, I like "_dressed to the nines_", if only for the fact that it uses a number, same as the French expression. 
You will find previous discussions about _tiré à quatre épingles_ at the bottom of this page.

A similar French expression is : _être/se mettre sur son trente-et-un_ (_trente-six_ in Quebec). Threads here.


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## akaAJ

Hmm. "Spick and span", or more commonly, "squeaky clean" (both nod to cleansers), would imply "free of taint of corruption", in a politician.

As an antique, I would have used "Dressed to the nines" (no "up"); but then "tiré à quatre épingles" is not the latest cat's meow then either, is it ?


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## TrueEurostud

tirer à quatre épingles- quel est le sens de cette expression dans cette phrase?:

De drôles de chômeurs aux costume et langage *tirés à quatre épingles*, qui citent trop de chiffres (_"On ne se refait pas"_), vous disent quoi lire ou écrire sur le sujet, auto-analysent leur situation au regard de la conjoncture financière... et requièrent l'anonymat absolu.


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## silwilhith

En plus familier, on peut dire "*sapés comme des mylords*". C'est à dire portant des habits très chics. (ce qui paraît étrange chez des chômeurs)

La position du "et langage" est un peu étrange dans la phrase car un langage ne se tire pas avec des épingles. Mais j'imagine que c'est pour dire qu'ils emploient un langage châtié.


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## pieanne

It's a set expression "tiré(s) à quatre épingles" which means "impeccable"


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## Moon Palace

_tiré à quatre épingles = to be dressed up to the nines_. Here the author uses the phrase to describe both the outfit and the language, thereby meaning that they were well dressed but that their language was also very formal / that they paid attention to their language.


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## violettelechat

Une personne 'tirée à quatre épingles' est une personne très bien habillée, élégnante, soignée, raffinée (= la chemise ou le chemisier est repassée, le costume ou le tailleur est impeccable, les chaussures sont cirées, etc).
Ici, on imagine que le costume et le langage sont très soignés (usage 'étendu' de l'expression).


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## pieanne

violettelechat said:


> Une personne 'tirée à quatre épingles' est une personne très bien habillée, élégnante, soignée, raffinée (= la chemise ou le chemisier est repassée, le costume ou le tailleur est impeccable, les chaussures sont cirées, etc).
> Ici, on imagine que le costume et le langage sont très soignés (usage 'étendu' de l'expression).



Je suis d'accord avec toi.
Toutefois je ne crois pas que "dressed up to the nines" soit toujours équivalent à "tiré à 4 épingles"


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## joelooc

"gussied up" ? Or is it only AmE?


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## broglet

I have never seen "dressed* up* to the nines" - only ever "dressed to the nines" (origin obscure) and of course "tiré aux quatre épingles" refers to the four pins used by a tailor for the final fitting.


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## Uncle Bob

Some suggestions are for derogatory phrases. Here's another that I like: "Done up like a dog's dinner" (the opposite of "Looking like a dog's breakfast").


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