 |
| Lucky Luke tire plus vite que son ombre Image de La Marque Zone |
Comic French Expression
| Meaning | to be quick off the mark, to move at lightning speed |
| Literally | to shoot faster than his shadow |
| Register | informal |
| Pronunciation | |
 |
[tee ray plu veet k(eu) soh no(n)br(eu)] |
| IPA | [ti ʀe ply vit kə so nɔ̃brə] |
Usage notes: How can someone shoot more quickly than his shadow? Obviously, a normal person can’t, but Lucky Luke is anything but normal! This cowboy from the American Old West is the star of his own eponymous Belgian comic-book series. Created in 1946, Lucky Luke, which is pronounced [lu kee luk], is such a famously quick draw that he shoots faster than his own shadow, c’est l’homme qui tire plus vite que son ombre.*
While this isn’t a French idiom you’ll use or even hear every day, it’s a fun one to know and can be used with other verbs to talk about anything that happens very quickly.
Par exemple…
| tirer plus vite que son ombre | to shoot quickly, to be quick off the mark | |
| marcher plus vite que son ombre | to walk very quickly, at lightning speed | |
| écrire plus vite que son ombre | to write with the pen racing over the paper |
Conseil concis
As always, the possessive adjective son has to change to agree with the subject of the sentence; e.g.,
| Tu joues du piano plus vite que ton ombre ! | Your fingers fly over the piano keys! |
* Another French expression from comic books: tomber dans la marmite
Related lessons
Juste pour rire
- Lucky Luke (official site)
- Peut-on tirer plus vite que son ombre ? (video)
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
In English, we say that the vowels are “a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.” The last couple of words hint at one of the keys to understanding pronunciation: a vowel is not so much a letter as the sound represented by a letter or combination of letters.
Practice is the key to improving your French, and just 15 minutes a day on some kind of French activity can make a huge difference. Check out these ideas and draw up your own schedule.
Of the four language skills, many people find that speaking is the most difficult. Here are tips and resources to help you overcome these obstacles in order to practice French as much as you like.
Jouer is a regular -er French verb that can be a bit confusing when it comes time to decide which preposition should follow. Here’s everything you need to know.