I find it very amusing that a 9 year old anglophone kid would use this word.
By the way, it’s sacrebleu, not “sacré bleu” as some posters write it. The e is mute.
Yeah, I once asked a French-speaking friend about it. She didn’t know what I was talking about and said it was sacré dieu even though I was pretty sure I had heard bleu. I guess I was right.
They are mild. In fact, I was never aware of “zut alors”. Tabernacle and chalice seem to be the worst. Although “Fuck you” is also good in Quebec.
You’re wrong. As stated by many posters, “bleu” stands for “dieu”. You can find it in other (equally obsolete) swear words, like “passambleu” (= Par sang dieu= by God’s blood) or “ventrebleu” (=ventre dieu= God’s belly, and I suspect that “belly” itself stands for another part of god’s anatomy, situated a bit lower)
For people who wouldn’t know, “tabernacle” and “calice” are swear words only in Quebec, not in France.
As for “zut” (I forgot its origin), it’s rarely used, and so extremely mild nowadays that it cannot count as a swear word. “Flute” is another example of a word that probably used to be a swear word but nowadays is just slang, and totally non offensive.
Let’s not forget the always popular “Va chier” (Go take a dump} and “Mange d’la marde” (Eat shit) 
What the hell do tabernacle and chalice mean in Quebec? These are pretty innocuous words in English. What happens if they hear a reference to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or watch Holy Grail?
Bleu’s Clues?
Same as in English. It is just that Quebec was under the thumb of the Catholic Church for a long time and one of the way to “rebel” was to use the Church’s symbols as swear words. Other popular ones are : “Christ”, “hostie” (host), “calvaire” (calvary), “ciboire” (ciborium). To make it short, here is a Quebec comedy routine that will show you how to properly use them : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk29GYiBIzw (in French)
So I take it that “merde” is more analogous to “crap” (i.e., just mildly offensive) than “shit”?
My WAG is she learned it from the Loony Tunes character Blacque Jacque Shellacque who appeared opposite Bugs Bunny in Bonanza Bunny (1952) and uses the phrase in Wet Hare(1962)at 1:35 and 5:29.
ETA: There is an art form to swearing in Quebec, where the goal is use as many as possible in different combinations.
i.e. Espece d’ostie de tabarnak de calisse d’la merde!
Respectfully submitted for your perusal. Next to last post.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, there is graffiti of the world “mierda” in the dungeon of St. Christopher’s Castle (Castillo de San Cristobal), ostensibly written by a prisoner who was sort of upset at being in there. The ranger refused to translate it for non-Spanish speakers, but it has the same meaning (and, almost certainly origin) in Spanish as “merde” in French, though I’m not sure if one is generally milder than the other.
How about “parbleu”?
My favourite French term of abuse is “espèce de fripouille”, personally.
I immediately thought of Blacque Jacque Shellaque when I read the OP.
Also, the cop in the Pink Panther cartoons (was he supposed to be Clouseau? I was never clear on that).
According to Wikipedia, that’s the origin. Artists were expected to use blue paint for Mary’s robe, partly because blue pigments were rare and expensive, which made them appropriate for the Mother of Jesus.
Christopher Moore talks about it in his novel Sacre Bleu, with examples.
The association with Mary made it ready made for blasphemy, which, strictly speaking, is treating holy figures in a non-holy fashion, or connecting them with the mundane (e.g., God’s wounds!).
Psst ! listen to the link in Post 29
How do you pronounce this? I’m feeling an urge to work it into my vocabulary. 
Thank you
Same thing. All these swear words in “bleu” are completely obsolete (Parbleu = Par dieu = By Gog")
Interesting thread. I’ve always heard that *sacrebleu *was somehow a blasphemy related to Mary, but didn’t know the full connection.
Of course there are many equivalents in English that, over the years, have lost their offensive potency to the point where they are used in kids’ shows or even as brand names: *gadzooks *(“God’s hooks” - the nails used in the crucifixion of Jesus; *zounds *(“God’s wounds”) - the stigmata; ods bodkins (God’s boddikins (God’s little body)) - the corpse of Jesus.