# What is a "coup de gras"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2007, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110 "2007-06-23T10:08:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/1 "2007-06-23T10:08:46Z")
What is the meaning of the idiomatic phrase “coup de gras?” I doubt it is a fat revolution! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/2 "2007-06-23T10:18:12Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] What is the meaning of the idiomatic phrase “coup de gras?” I doubt it is a fat revolution! 🙂 [/QUOTE] > **[Coup de grâce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_de_gr%C3%A2ce)** > > A coup de grâce (/ˌkuː də ˈɡrɑːs/; .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}French: \[ku də ɡʁɑs\] ⓘ lit. 'blow of mercy') is a mercy killing in which a mortally wounded person or animal is struck with a weapon or shot with a projectile to kill it quickly and end its suffering, with or without its consent. Veterinarians may administer it to ser... ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/3 "2007-06-23T10:18:20Z")
Well, first off, unless it’s a foie gras that you plan to make into pate, the victim need not be gras at all. It’s a coup de grace, and the meaning has migrated. First, let’s imagine you a gentil knight, sans peur et sans reproche. You set forth on deeds of derring do, writing wrongs, defending the defenseless, and generally defeating evil. But the next question is, what do you do with evil once you’ve defeated it? And the answer was, put it out of its misery. Once you’ve overthrown and dehorsed it, and it’s bleeding from incurable wounds, killing it to avoid prolonging its suffering is an act of mercy, a coup de grace in the original and literal sense. From that, it’s evolved to take on the meaning of any morally positive strong and final action, comme ci ou comme ca. But that’s where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/4 "2007-06-23T11:06:24Z")
Either all of the above or it’s french for lawnmower. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/5 "2007-06-23T11:53:46Z")
[Coupe de Grass](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/95131944_c6238ad1e2.jpg?v=0) ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/6 "2007-06-23T11:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=racer72] [Coupe de Grass](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/95131944_c6238ad1e2.jpg?v=0) [/QUOTE] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/7 "2007-06-23T14:10:52Z")
What **Poly** said or… you’re dealing with a _chevalier sans beurre et sans reproche_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/8 "2007-06-23T14:14:38Z")
A knight without butter? ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/9 "2007-06-23T14:36:45Z")
What else would you need to administer a _coup de gras_ ? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/10 "2007-06-23T14:39:59Z")
[QUOTE=detop] What else would you need to administer a _coup de gras_ ? [/QUOTE] :smack: Too early and not enough coffee for puns. Especially ones in a language I don’t speak! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/11 "2007-06-23T15:27:38Z")
[QUOTE=detop] What else would you need to administer a _coup de gras_ ? [/QUOTE] A butter knife would do it, I think. [QUOTE=Johnny L.A] A knight without butter? [/QUOTE] [Pierre de Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard, chevalier sans peur et sans reproche](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Terrail_Bayard), the “knight without fear and without reproach.” I imagine he did on occasion have some butter. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/12 "2007-06-23T16:00:05Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > it’s evolved to take on the meaning of any morally positive strong and final action But can a “gentil knight, sans peur et sans reproche” actually administer the _coup de grâce_? In the original sense, the _coup de grâce_ was essentially euthanasia, which the Church has never accepted. Would the Church see it as a “morally positive” act? I wouldn’t have thought so - and I’ve always thought it as having a morally ambiguous sense, although certainly final. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/13 "2007-06-23T16:29:19Z")
[QUOTE=detop] What **Poly** said or… you’re dealing with a _chevalier sans beurre et sans reproche_. [/QUOTE] That would be Don Quixote. His loyal Sancho Panza, OTOH, used to ride a donkey. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/14 "2007-06-23T16:42:25Z")
[QUOTE=detop] What **Poly** said or… you’re dealing with a _chevalier sans beurre et sans reproche_. [/QUOTE] No, no, no - it’s a _chevalier sans beurre et sans [brioche](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brioche)_! Obviously, that’s a knight who’s on a quest during the Lenten season, after Mardi gras. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/15 "2007-06-23T17:57:57Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] But can a “gentil knight, sans peur et sans reproche” actually administer the _coup de grâce_? In the original sense, the _coup de grâce_ was essentially euthanasia, which the Church has never accepted. Would the Church see it as a “morally positive” act? I wouldn’t have thought so - and I’ve always thought it as having a morally ambiguous sense, although certainly final. [/QUOTE] Chivalry, for all the lip service it paid to the Church, was very much a separate thing. If it was a matter of choosing between what chivalry said, and what the Church said, the typical knight would do what chivalry said and add another verse to his confession. The Church fulminated against tournaments too, and nobody listened. (Technically, a knight who died in a tournament was guilty of the sin of suicide.) ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/16 "2007-06-23T17:58:43Z")
[QUOTE=racer72] [Coupe de Grass](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/95131944_c6238ad1e2.jpg?v=0) [/QUOTE] By Chia Motors ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/17 "2007-06-23T18:09:05Z")
_Coup de grace_ is an interesting phrase, in that it is meaningful in two unrelated languages. In French, it means something like “death blow”. Meanwhile, in the Quatzacocl language of native Ecuador it means “Can’t you just look it up on Wikipedia like everybody else?”. A curious linguistic coincidence, I think you’ll agree. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/18 "2007-06-23T18:34:54Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Meanwhile, in the Quatzacocl language of native Ecuador it means “Can’t you just look it up on Wikipedia like everybody else?”. Alternatively, you could hunt around on the Internet until you find a web-site with a forum called “General Questions” which invites people to post questions for others to answer. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/19 "2007-06-23T18:45:07Z")
Questions to which the answer isn’t readily available, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110/20 "2007-06-23T19:02:10Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] I imagine he did on occasion have some butter. [/QUOTE] What better way to stay lubricated inside a suit of armor? Otherwise, the metal would chafe your skin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-coup-de-gras/409110.md?page=2)