Why do English people say 鈥楨xcuse my French鈥�?
Have you ever wondered where the English expression, 鈥淓xcuse my French鈥� comes from, to describe someone swearing, or saying something indelicate?
Today, has investigated the origins of this phrase.
The expression would appear to date back to centuries-old animosity between the English and the French, after the Norman king, William the Conqueror, invaded in 1066.
The rivalry continued, and the English image of France was not improved by the Hundred Years War nor by the French Revolution in 1789.
In fact, in the 1790s, Admiral Horatio Nelson is thought to have advised young men that they 鈥渕ust hate a Frenchman, as you do the devil".
However, later on, it became fashionable for English people to use French words in their usual speech, especially for less-than-positive words or meanings.
The phrase 鈥淓xcuse my French鈥� was therefore thought to be a classy way to show off your ability to use the foreign words, while also excusing any language errors you might make as a result.
One particular phrase, featured in The Lady Magazine in 1830, read: 鈥淏less me, how fat you are grown! Absolutely as round as a ball; you will soon be as embon-point (excuse my French) as your poor dear father.鈥�
This could explain why the expression came to be used to describe something slightly rude, with the phrase later spreading to refer to anything crass or indelicate - whether in French or not.
The expression, in its modern form, first entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1901.
English is not the only language to put the historic animosity between France and England to linguistic use.
French also has an expression: 鈥�filer 脿 l鈥檃nglaise (鈥渢o take English leave鈥�)鈥�, which means 鈥渢o leave without saying goodbye, without anyone noticing鈥�.
In direct contrast, the English phrase 鈥渢o take French leave鈥� means the exact same thing...
