According to another website the French Peter also meant to fizzle. I suspect the term referenced a fuse that fizzled out as the literal meaning and then was used analogously for a vein of or that fizzled out. And saltpeter reinforced the analogy.
Second, flatulence is a meaning of petard so, literally being lifted by your own gas because you were so full of it is where the Brits came up with hoisted on his own petard. Full of hot air is the American equivalent.
Paul:
July 16th, 2017 at 12:55 pm
French for chest is ‘poitrine’
Walter Hettinger:
January 8th, 2020 at 11:50 pm
It seems to me that there is an obvious deduction to be made here. Peter is also rock. A valuable vein of ore that gradually is lost in the surrounding rock will have “petered out”-i.e has become rock or is lost in rock.
Tripp Clarke:
September 22nd, 2020 at 10:41 am
Is it possible that the phrase is recent enough to be referencing The Peter Principle? Which suggests when a person has reached their highest level of competency in an organization, i.e. “he petered out in his job competency?”
Anonymous:
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:43 pm
Wonderful response from you. It is like an extensive lesson. I appreciate it. I knew the meaning, but I just looked for it to see if the author meant to say anything more.
Dick Scoones:
November 10th, 2021 at 10:50 am
The Spanish word petardo means firework in English. I suspect ‘hoist by his own petard’ has little to do with French farts and vacuous Englishmen – although I like the poetry of the suggestion – and more to do with the person who seeks to do verbal or physical harm to others and he literally ends up being the victim of his own device…..as in going up with the rocket. Petardos, gunpowder, fizzling out, end of stocks, the damp fuse, mining…that sounds right to me.
Kalense:
January 30th, 2022 at 9:09 am
Péter has other meanings in French, besides explode and fart. The phrase “je suis pété” can mean “I’m falling-down drunk” or “I’m utterly exhausted”. I wonder whether there’s some link between petered out and the second sense of the phrase, completely exhausted.
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Greg hebert:
July 1st, 2017 at 11:16 pm
According to another website the French Peter also meant to fizzle. I suspect the term referenced a fuse that fizzled out as the literal meaning and then was used analogously for a vein of or that fizzled out. And saltpeter reinforced the analogy.
Second, flatulence is a meaning of petard so, literally being lifted by your own gas because you were so full of it is where the Brits came up with hoisted on his own petard. Full of hot air is the American equivalent.
Paul:
July 16th, 2017 at 12:55 pm
French for chest is ‘poitrine’
Walter Hettinger:
January 8th, 2020 at 11:50 pm
It seems to me that there is an obvious deduction to be made here. Peter is also rock. A valuable vein of ore that gradually is lost in the surrounding rock will have “petered out”-i.e has become rock or is lost in rock.
Tripp Clarke:
September 22nd, 2020 at 10:41 am
Is it possible that the phrase is recent enough to be referencing The Peter Principle? Which suggests when a person has reached their highest level of competency in an organization, i.e. “he petered out in his job competency?”
Anonymous:
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:43 pm
Wonderful response from you. It is like an extensive lesson. I appreciate it. I knew the meaning, but I just looked for it to see if the author meant to say anything more.
Dick Scoones:
November 10th, 2021 at 10:50 am
The Spanish word petardo means firework in English. I suspect ‘hoist by his own petard’ has little to do with French farts and vacuous Englishmen – although I like the poetry of the suggestion – and more to do with the person who seeks to do verbal or physical harm to others and he literally ends up being the victim of his own device…..as in going up with the rocket. Petardos, gunpowder, fizzling out, end of stocks, the damp fuse, mining…that sounds right to me.
Kalense:
January 30th, 2022 at 9:09 am
Péter has other meanings in French, besides explode and fart. The phrase “je suis pété” can mean “I’m falling-down drunk” or “I’m utterly exhausted”. I wonder whether there’s some link between petered out and the second sense of the phrase, completely exhausted.