En deux temps, trois mouvements


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Informal French Expression

Meaning	in double time, very quickly
Literally	in two beats, three movements
Register	informal
Pronunciation		[a(n) deu ta(n) trwah moov(eu) ma(n)]
IPA		[ɑ̃ dø tɑ̃ tʀwa muv mɑ̃]

Usage notes: The French expression en deux temps, trois mouvements comes from music: temps refers to "beats" and mouvements indicates "motions" (though there’s an additional musical meaning of "tempo"). So a person creating three motions in just two beats would obviously be moving very quickly.

There are many ways to express this in English:

before you know it
in a jiffy
in double time
in no time
in the blink of an eye
like lightning
quick as a wink

(old-fashioned)
before you can say "Jack Robinson"
in two shakes of a lamb’s tail

Par exemple…

Rédiger un rapport peut prendre des heures, mais aujourd’hui, en deux temps, trois mouvements, je l’ai fini.	Writing a report can take hours, but today I fnished it in no time.
En deux temps, trois mouvements il a désarmé le voleur.	He disarmed the thief in the blink of an eye.

Synonymous expressions