Maybe because of the Olympics, I thought of something someone I worked with years ago always said — “Pardon my French.” Of course he used it when he would swear and decided he needed to apologize. For no particular reason I got to wondering where that phrase came from.
It probably, along with lots of other “insults,” grew out of the long-standing rivalry between England and France. They have a history of mutual contempt and each country’s everyday language contains lots of stock phrases and terms that speak ill of the other.
The English have pretty much always thought of the French as champions of indecency and lewdness. The English used the terms “French pox” and “French disease” for syphilis and other venereal diseases long ago. Of course the French weren’t about to take that lying down. One of their more inventive phrases was les Anglais ont débarqué, which translates to “the English have landed.” Not a big deal — until you learn that they used it to describe menstruation. The phrase probably stemmed from the bright red uniforms of the English soldiers that flooded into France to fight against Napoleon. They associated the English with an unwelcome crimson arrival.
The countries have always come up with similar terms for things, but swapped “French” and “English” as appropriate. For example, a “French letter” is an English euphemism for a condom. The French would say a capote anglaise (an “English hood”). In England, “to take French leave” means to leave without saying goodbye. In France, filer à langlais means “to flee like the English.”
I couldn’t find any similar symmetry with the phrase “Pardon my French.” Apparently when the French swear, and feel sorry about it, they usually say Excusez moi (Excuse me.)
Seems to me the French should say, “Pardon my English,” — but — they don’t.
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