Chapter Coup de Grace to Coute que Coute of C by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Coup de Grace to Coute que Coute

Coup de Grace The finishing stroke. When criminals were tortured by the wheel or otherwise, the executioner gave him a coup de grâce, or blow on the head or breast, to put him out of his misery.

“The Turks dealt the coup de grâce to the Eastern empire.”- Times.

    The following is taken from a note (chap. xxx.) of Sir W. Scott's novel The Betrothed.

“This punishment [being broken on the wheel] consists in the executioner, with a bar of iron, breaking the shoulder-bones, arms, thigh-bones, and legs- taking alternate sides. The punishment is concluded by a blow across the breast, called the coup de grâce, or blow of mercy because it removes the sufferer from his agony. Mandrin, the celebrated smuggler, while in the act of being thus tortured, tells us that the sensibility of pain never continues after the nervous system has been shattered by the first blow.”

Coup de Main (French). A sudden stroke; a stratagem whereby something is effected suddenly. Sometimes called a coup only, as “The coup [the scheme] did not answer.”

“London is not to be taken by a coup de main. ”- Public Opinion.

Coup d'OEil (French). A view; glance; prospect; effect of things in the mass.
   These principles are presented at a single coup d'oeil.
   The coup d'oeil was grand in the extreme.

Coup de Pied de l'Ane (kick from the ass's foot). A blow given to a vanquished or fallen man; a cowardly blow; an insult offered to one who has not the power of returning or avenging it. The allusion is to the fable of the sick lion kicked by the ass. (French.)

Coup de Soleil (French). A sun-stroke, any malady produced by exposure to the sun.

Coup de Theatre An unforeseen or unexpected turn in a drama to produce a sensational effect. In ordinary life, something planned for effect. Burke and his dagger was meant for a coup de théâtre, but it was turned into farce by a little ready wit. (See Dagger-Scene .)

Coup Manque (A). A false stroke.

“Shoot dead, or don't aim at all; but never make a coup manque.”- Ouida: Under Two Flags, chap. xx.

Coupon A certificate of interest which is to be cut off [French, couper ] from a bond and presented for payment. It bears on its face the date and amount of interest to be paid. If the coupons are exhausted before the principal is paid off, new ones are gratuitously supplied to the holder of the bond.
   Most foreign state-bonds expire in a stated term of years, generally a portion being paid off annually at par. Suppose there are 1,000 bonds, and 10 are paid off annually, then in 100 years all are paid off and the obligation is cancelled.

Courage of One's Opinion To have the courage of one's opinion means to utter, maintain, and act according to one's opinion, be the consequences what they may. The French use the same locution. Martyrs may be said to have had the courage of their opinions.

Courland Weather Very boisterous, uncongenial weather, with high winds, driving snow and rain, like the weather of Courland, in Russia.

Course Another course would have done it. A little more would have effected our purpose. It is said that the peasants of a Yorkshire village tried to wall in a cuckoo in order to enjoy an eternal spring. They built a wall round the bird, and the cuckoo just skimmed over it. “Ah!” said one of the peasants, “another carse would a' done it.”

“There is a school of moralists who, connecting sundry short-comings ... with changes in manners, endeavour to persuade us that only `another carse' is wanted to wall in the cuckoo.”- Nineteenth Century, December,