Pardon my French - wikipedia Pardon my French This article is about the phrase. For other uses, see Pardon my French ( disambiguation ) and Excuse My French ( disambiguation ). `` Pardon my French '' or `` Excuse my French '' is a common English language phrase ostensibly disguising profanity as words from the French language. The phrase is uttered in an attempt to excuse the user of profanity, swearing, or curses in the presence of those offended by it, under the pretense of the words being part of a foreign language. Although the phrase is often used without any explicit or implicit intention of insulting the French people or language, it can nevertheless be perceived as offensive and belittling by Francophone speakers. However, most users of the term intend no such belittlement, but rather a light - hearted way of apologizing on - the - fly for having used a somewhat profane comment. In other words, it can be ( and usually is ) used as a very effective oral English device to indicate that the speaker does not intend to escalate the general level of profanity use. Contents 1 Usage 2 Related expressions 3 Notes 4 References Usage At least one source suggests that the phrase `` derives from a literal usage of the exclamation. In the 19th century, when English people used French expressions in conversation they often apologized for it - presumably because many of their listeners ( then as now ) would n't be familiar with the language ''. The definition cites an example from The Lady 's Magazine, 1830 : Bless me, how fat you are grown ! - absolutely as round as a ball : - you will soon be as embonpoint ( excuse my French ) as your poor dear father, the major. The phrase has been used in broadcast television and family films where less offensive words are preceded by `` pardon my French '' to intensify their effect without violating censorship or rating guidelines. A good example is in the movie Ferris Bueller 's Day Off. Cameron calls Mr. Rooney and says, `` Pardon my French, but you 're an asshole ''. Related expressions Poster for the 1921 movie Pardon My French, the character of the left uses the French profanity `` Diable ! ''. Incidentally, several expressions are used by both the English and the French to describe the same culturally unacceptable habit, but attributing the habit to the other people : `` to take a French leave '' ( to depart a party or other gathering without taking polite leave of one 's host ) is referenced in French as filer à l'anglaise ( lit. `` leave English - style '' ). `` French letter '' ( now somewhat archaic ; referring to a condom ) is rendered in French as capote anglaise ( `` English hood '' or `` English cap '' ). During the 16th century in England, genital herpes was called the `` French disease '' and `` French - sick '' was a term for syphilis, while at the same time, it was called le Mal de Naples ( the Napoli disease ), hence attributing the belief that syphilis came from the south, into France, and then into England. Notes ^ Embonpoint is French for `` plumpness '' ; state of being well - nourished. References Jump up ^ Rory T. Cornish, Margueritte Quintelli - Neary, Phrases.org.uk : `` Crafting Infinity : Reworking Elements in Irish Culture '', Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013 Jump up ^ Marie Treps, `` Oh là là, ces Français ! Du pire au meilleur, comment le monde parle de nous. '' La Librairie Vuibert, 2016 ^ Jump up to : Phrases.org.uk : `` Excuse my French '' Jump up ^ Frances White, Why do we say `` Excuse my French '' ? on historyanswers.co.uk, 11th March 2015 Jump up ^ Melissa, How the Tradition of Saying `` Pardon My French '' After Saying Swear Words Started, on todayifoundout.com, October 8, 2013 Jump up ^ Geraldine Jones, `` Excuse my French ! '' and other popular European sayings, on everywordcounts.co.uk, May 14, 2016 Jump up ^ Matt Soniak, Why Do We Say `` Pardon My French '' When We Curse ?, on mentalfloss.com, October 26, 2012 Jump up ^ Twelve ' French ' things that are n't actually French at all, on thelocal.fr, 19 August 2016 Jump up ^ Eatough G ( 1984 ). Fracastoro 's Syphilis. Liverpool : Francis Cairns. Jump up ^ Girolamo Fracastoro, Ibid., p. 91 Profanity By language American Sign Language Cantonese Dutch Esperanto Finnish German Hokkien Italian Korean Latin Mandarin Chinese Norwegian Portuguese Quebec French Romanian Russian Sinhala Spanish Swedish Tagalog Devices Bleep censor Broadcast delay Expletive deleted Grawlix Swear jar Wordfilter Other Expletive attributive Expletive infixation Fighting words Hypoalgesic effect of swearing Maledicta Maledictology Minced oath Pardon my French Profane Swearing Act 1694 Profanity in science fiction Scunthorpe problem Seven dirty words List of ethnic slurs Wiktionary Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pardon_my_French&oldid=791114584 '' Categories : Profanity English phrases Talk Contents About Wikipedia Српски / srpski Edit links This page was last edited on 18 July 2017, at 06 : 45. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. 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Question: what is the meaning of excuse my french
Answer: common English language phrase ostensibly disguising profanity as words from the French language