Etymology Journal ยท E
Excuse my French
Meaning
- A polite, slightly cheeky way to apologize for using a swear word or being blunt. It pretends that your bad language is actually a foreign tongue.
Wry, polite
Used in a sentence
- That was a hell of a mess, excuse my French.
- Excuse my French, but that is a damn good idea.
- He hit his thumb with the hammer and said, excuse my French, a string of bad words.
The backstory
In the 19th century, this phrase was used when someone used French phrases in English conversation. It eventually shifted into an ironic apology for using profanity.
Heard in
Nationwide
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