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APAD: Excuse my French
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APAD: Excuse my French

7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning:

   Please forgive my swearing.

 

Background:

   A coy phrase used when someone who has used a swear-word attempts to pass it

   off as French. The coyness comes from the fact that both the speaker and

   listener are of course well aware the swear-word is indeed English.

 

   This usage is mid 20th century English in origin. A version of it is found in

   Michael Harrison's All Trees were Green, 1936:

 

     "A bloody sight better (pardon the French!) than most."

 

   The precise phrase comes just a few years later in S.P.E. Tract IV., 1940:

 

     "Excuse my French! (forgive me my strong language)."

 

   Every country has neighbours they like to look down on. For the English it's

   the French.

 

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It's human nature to feel superior through reviling others. From My Fair Lady:

 

    [HIGGINS]

    An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him

    The moment he talks, he makes some other Englishman despise him

    One common language I'm afraid we'll never get

    Oh, why can't the English learn to

    

    Set a good example to people whose

    English is painful to your ears?

    The Scots and the Irish leave you close to tears

    There even are places where English completely disappears

    

    Well, in America, they haven't used it for years

 

Englishmen have no monopoly here; the Chinese have their own prejudices.

Scholars have the tradition of contemning each other. City folks shun peasants,

big-city dwellers look down on small-town visitors, Mandarian speakers deride

dialect spielers, so on and so forth.

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最西边的岛上
2 楼
哈哈哈,一个真实的笑话:我在第一个大厂上班时以为我听不懂的外国话都是法语(渥太华是英法双语城市)。一次小组开会时听到隔壁
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最西边的岛上
3 楼
屋里一个同事大声地用我听不懂的语言打电话,就开玩笑地说:乔治又在show off他的法语了。会多种语言的爱尔兰祖籍小老板
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暖冬cool夏
4 楼
Contemn,shun, look down upon,deride-- great word choices!
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最西边的岛上
5 楼
立马睁大了大眼睛说:他说的是波兰语。U can imageine howEmbarassed I was. ;-)))
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暖冬cool夏
6 楼
This is new to me. In a sense, French is tainted by the APAD
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最西边的岛上
7 楼
APAD剧透:I choseAFrenchPhrase 4Tomorrow:Je pense, donc je suis
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7grizzly
8 楼
Each error thickens my skin a bit until I feel shame no more
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7grizzly
9 楼
Thanks.
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7grizzly
10 楼
As an ESL, I aim to understand but won't use that phrase.
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最西边的岛上
11 楼
but it's not swearing. I promise&I neverSwear inMyLife;-)
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7grizzly
12 楼
Just looked it up: 剧透 is spoiler. Very interesting.
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最西边的岛上
13 楼
sorry7G, butTheContextIsStill aSecret as I don't know yet;))
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移花接木
14 楼
The English guy who invented this phrase was in defiant mood
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7grizzly
15 楼
We only know the English side of the story. The French side
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7grizzly
16 楼
could be worse.
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天边一片白云
17 楼
看来不能随便说“Excuse my French" or " Excuse my English"
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