# Pardon my French **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455 "2015-09-09T18:37:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![savetheplanet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@savetheplanet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/savetheplanet)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/1 "2015-09-09T18:37:48Z")
Why, upon saying a naughty word, will someone then say “Pardon my French?” Is French a vulgar language? ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/2 "2015-09-09T18:41:25Z")
I always thought that it was an opposite statement since French is an elegant language. Kind of like someone farting and saying, " Excuse my perfume." ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/3 "2015-09-09T18:45:39Z")
No. The idea is that rather than having said a rude English word, he accidentally lapsed into speaking a (presumably polite) French word, which may have coincidentally sounded like a rude English word. Wink wink. The premise is that the listener doesn’t know French and thus can’t be sure that the excuse isn’t true. Of course in real life we know it was a rude English word, so it’s more of a stylized way to say “Oops! Sorry I cussed!” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/4 "2015-09-09T18:50:41Z")
Because the French were considered the epitome of everything lascivious and risque. If you said something naughty, you excused it by saying it was French. Also, naughty things were often referred to as French, or the French term was used. French kiss, French letter, doing it Frenching, _soixante-neuf_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/5 "2015-09-09T18:54:48Z")
Could it have anything to do with the French _phoque_ /fɔk/ (seal)? (Probably not, but it’s a nice coincidence) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/6 "2015-09-09T18:58:48Z")
In his diaries, Pepys resorted to French when he described anything risqué. I imagine that this was a common ploy for educated people at that time and the practice has morphed into the present day euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/7 "2015-09-09T19:19:22Z")
Also, and I think Cecil has pointed this out, France and the Netherlands were England’s big rivals at one time, so a lot of English idioms containing “French” and “Dutch” are primarily disparaging, and may be only vaguely connected to actual characteristics of the people. Consider French leave, French letter, French kiss, Dutch courage, Dutch treat, in Dutch, double Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/8 "2015-09-09T20:34:55Z")
Plus French was the dominant cultural language of the area. France was (allegedly) more cultured; educated people spoke French, important people went to France quite often, it was the nearest neighbour, etc. So if you lapsed into French, it meant you were classy… as opposed to sounding like a longshoreman. PS. search YouTube for “Family Guy French lesson” _“And remember kids, you can use it at the dinner table, because it’s French and French is classy.”_ ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/9 "2015-09-10T00:03:25Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Because the French were considered the epitome of everything lascivious and risque. If you said something naughty, you excused it by saying it was French. Also, naughty things were often referred to as French, or the French term was used. French kiss, French letter, doing it Frenching, _soixante-neuf_. > [@bob\_2](#): > > In his diaries, Pepys resorted to French when he described anything risqué. I imagine that this was a common ploy for educated people at that time and the practice has morphed into the present day euphemism. > [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Also, and I think Cecil has pointed this out, France and the Netherlands were England’s big rivals at one time, so a lot of English idioms containing “French” and “Dutch” are primarily disparaging, and may be only vaguely connected to actual characteristics of the people. Consider French leave, French letter, French kiss, Dutch courage, Dutch treat, in Dutch, double Dutch. These are the correct answer, the others talking about French being classier are incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![AuntPam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@AuntPam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntPam)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/10 "2015-09-10T01:47:15Z")
Although, to be fair about it, French is considerably earthier than English. You might want to look at a couple of great books called Merde! and Merde Encore! for examples. I am really fond of two French idioms: a French woman getting her period would say (curses on trying to make this keyboard type in French) “Les Anglais sont arrives.” Loosely translated “the redcoats have landed.” Also the French phrase for a woman with a large bosom: “Elle a du monde au balcon.” (She’s got a crowd in the balcony.") These are pretty clean. But we English speakers would be a lot more cautious about referring to a real mess as “une tas de merde” (a pile of you-know-what) in relatively polite company. Not so with the French. I note that ordinary commercial transactions (buying a croissant and a cup of coffee, for example) are considerably more formal than in America. So it balances out… ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/11 "2015-09-10T13:05:52Z")
> [@AuntPam](#): > > I note that ordinary commercial transactions (buying a croissant and a cup of coffee, for example) are considerably more formal than in America. So it balances out… This reminds me of a post I made on another forum and which, since the OP’s question is answered, I reproduce here: > [@](#): > > Parisians rude? Pas de tout! > > There is a trope that Parisians are rude. In fact even provincial French people will tell you how ill mannered they are. As a visitor to that city it has not been my general experience with the exception of waiters in restaurants. Bistros Cafés and snack bars are fine, but if you want a proper sit down meal with tablecloths and a wine waiter, be prepared to learn French first as they will make no concession to any lazy foreigner. > > Parisiennes are also impossibly manicured and coiffed which can be off-putting - even the most lowly shop assistant in a hardware shop will look as if she has stepped off the Vogue front page. > > I read this amusing article recently: [http://moreintelligentlife.co.uk/sto...tout?page=full](http://moreintelligentlife.co.uk/sto...tout?page=full) > > > [@](#): > > > > You approach a pair of shop assistants in the wonderfully chaotic DIY basement at BHV, the department store next to the Hôtel de Ville, who appear to have been trained not to interrupt their conversation as you draw near. In fact, they have perfected the art of not even catching your eye, while you wait in disbelief in front of them. I didn’t realise it then, but a “Bonjour Madame” would have brought their conversation to an instant halt, and located those 5cm masonry nails in moments. > > and > > > [@](#): > > > > Most of our Parisian friends would never dream of taking their children to Disneyland. Their Paris is defined, walled, sheltered by the périphérique. Their kids can ride the authentic painted horses on the Belle Epoque manèges (carousels) of Paris, so why head to a rival, invented fantasyland? They don’t see the France that has opened its arms to American-style living—vast hypermarkets, multiplex cinemas, drive-in McDonald’s—in a way that would shock the left-bank guardians of good taste. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french/730455/12 "2015-09-10T13:15:25Z")
> [@AuntPam](#): > > But we English speakers would be a lot more cautious about referring to a real mess as “une tas de merde” (a pile of you-know-what) in relatively polite company. Not so with the French. Or indeed the near relation for anything untidy or generally disorganised - “Mais c’est un bordel!” / “Il est bordélique, ce type-là!”