tirer son épingle du jeu

“Tirer son épingle du jeu” is a French expression that translates literally to “to pull your pin from the game”. Épingle (m) is pin and jeu (m) is game.

Here are some translations:

  • to come out unscathed
  • to get out of a tricky situation
  • to play your cards right
  • to do well while others fail

French-to-French definitions on expressio.fr include:

  • Skillfully extricating oneself from a delicate situation; and
  • Getting out of a bad business deal in timely fashion without losing money

Another French equivalent to this expression is “bien s’en sortir“, which means to manage well or get by fine.

example sentence:

  • La crise était horrible. Les gens tombaient malade partout. Mais Pierre a suivi tous les consignes du gouvernement et il a tiré son épingle du jeu. The crisis was horrible. People everywhere were getting sick. But Pierre followed the government’s recommendation and he came out unscathed.

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