Film, Media & TV2 mins ago
French Language?
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Why when people use words like fvck, sh1t, hel1 etc. say pardon my French? Do those words belong to the French vocabulary?
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No, but, as you say, it is interesting that people say" pardon my french".
I make no apologies for this educational addition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/****
I make no apologies for this educational addition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/****
No, they're not Fench, it's just part of the age-old rivalry between the French and English. It implies that they are more likely to swear or use bad language than the 'well-bred' English. And of course the French will say the same of the English. If Quizmonster is around, I'm sure he(?) will be able to explain it better.
Actually, I'd say pretty much the same as you have done, Taichi.
It has long been the case that nations blame their neighbours - especially those very close and against whom wars have been fought - for all sorts of failings. Thus, we make fun of �Dutch courage', which appears only if the Dutchman is drunk. Similarly, our slang for a condom includes the word �French' and theirs includes �English'. When we skive off, we take �French leave' and when they do, they take �English leave'.
�Pardon my French' is very much in the same mould. The suggestion is that there is no such thing as a �bad word' in English, so - if someone imagines they heard one - they must have misheard it as French...or "I was really speaking French!"
It has long been the case that nations blame their neighbours - especially those very close and against whom wars have been fought - for all sorts of failings. Thus, we make fun of �Dutch courage', which appears only if the Dutchman is drunk. Similarly, our slang for a condom includes the word �French' and theirs includes �English'. When we skive off, we take �French leave' and when they do, they take �English leave'.
�Pardon my French' is very much in the same mould. The suggestion is that there is no such thing as a �bad word' in English, so - if someone imagines they heard one - they must have misheard it as French...or "I was really speaking French!"
some may say that the word f**k came from Irish law. If a couple were caught committing adultery, they would be punished "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge In the Nude", with "F****N" written on the stocks above them to denote the crime.
Such VULGAR words from Anglo-Saxon English were described so by the incoming Norman supporters/sympathisers and were later deemed to be Taboo.
Such VULGAR words from Anglo-Saxon English were described so by the incoming Norman supporters/sympathisers and were later deemed to be Taboo.
Rod, anyone who says the f-word came from that - or any other - acronym is an idiot! The earliest-recorded direct written use of the f-word in English was in a poem by the Scottish writer, William Dunbar, in 1503. There were earlier coy 'hints' about the word hidden away in written material. One of those was a satirical poem, written before 1500, that was about the Carmelite friars of Cambridge. A line in code reads, once it's �translated': "They are not in heaven because they 'f' wives of Ely".
No acronym for anything existed until long after these days. Cheers
No acronym for anything existed until long after these days. Cheers
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