Literal Translation
Lightning strike
Actual Meaning
Love at first sight
Etymology
The expression appeared in the language of the 17th century: it initially referred to an event that took people by surprise in a sudden and unpleasant way, leaving them stunned – the word foudre (lightning) intensifies the brutality of the “blow”, which is as fast as lightning.
At the end of the 18th century, the expression moved into the language of love, where foudre regained its full semantic force. The ‘coup de foudre’ conveys the violence of the attraction one feels for someone, which seems as sudden as it is overwhelming: it dazzles, pierces and engulfs the whole being, who feels both paralysed by the force of the blow and set ablaze by the inner flame it provokes.
Nowadays, ‘coup de foudre’ has broadened its spectrum of uses and become commonplace: we say we have had a ‘coup de foudre’ for a place or a house – we also talk about ‘coup de cœur’ – as a way of softening the initially harsh meaning of the expression.