adverb/a la fɔʁ.s(ə) dy pwa.ɲɛ/
by one's own efforts, through hard graft
“se hisser à la force du poignet, s'élever à la force du poignet” — to success by dint of hard work, to succeed through sheer hard work, to pull oneself up from nothing, to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps