Maybe because of the Olympics, I thought of something someone I worked with years ago always said \u2014 \u201cPardon my French.\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It probably, along with lots of other \u201cinsults,\u201d grew out of the long-standing rivalry between England and France. They have a history of mutual contempt and each country\u2019s everyday language contains lots of stock phrases and terms that speak ill of the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The English have pretty much always thought of the French as champions of indecency and lewdness. The English used the terms \u201cFrench pox\u201d and \u201cFrench disease\u201d for syphilis and other venereal diseases long ago. Of course the French weren\u2019t about to take that lying down. One of their more inventive phrases was les Anglais ont d\u00e9barqu\u00e9<\/em>, which translates to \u201cthe English have landed.\u201d Not a big deal \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The countries have always come up with similar terms for things, but swapped \u201cFrench\u201d and \u201cEnglish\u201d as appropriate. For example, a \u201cFrench letter\u201d is an English euphemism for a condom. The French would say a capote anglaise<\/em> (an \u201cEnglish hood\u201d). In England, \u201cto take French leave\u201d means to leave without saying goodbye. In France, filer \u00e0 langlais<\/em> means \u201cto flee like the English.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I couldn\u2019t find any similar symmetry with the phrase \u201cPardon my French.\u201d Apparently when the French swear, and feel sorry about it, they usually say Excusez mo<\/em>i (Excuse me.) Maybe because of the Olympics, I thought of something someone I worked with years ago always said \u2014 \u201cPardon my French.\u201d Of course he used it when he would swear and decided he needed to apologize. For no particular reason … Continue reading
Seems to me the French should say, \u201cPardon my English,\u201d \u2014 but\u00a0 \u2014 they don\u2019t.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"