“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.
