Pardon my French

"Excuse my French" and "Pardon my Klatchian" redirect here. For similar uses, see Pardon my French (disambiguation).

"Pardon my French" or "Excuse my French" is a common English language phrase ostensibly disguising profanity as French. The phrase is uttered in an attempt to excuse the user of profanity or curses in the presence of those offended by it under the pretense of the words being part of a foreign language.

The phrase has found large use in broadcast television and family films where less offensive words are preceded by "pardon my French" to emphasize their meaning 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." In another segment, Bueller says, "Pardon my French, but Cameron is so tight that if you were to shove a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond."

Meaning

A possible meaning is suggested on phrases.org.uk, which 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 apologised for it - presumably because many of their listeners (then as now) wouldn'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.

"Embonpoint" is French for 'plumpness'; state of being well-nourished'.

Related expressions

Several expressions in French attempt to link various practices perceived as unsavoury to England, e.g., "l'éducation anglaise" (disciplining children by sexually-tinged spanking). Ironically, 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 : e.g., "taking French leave" (leaving a party or other gathering without taking polite leave of one's host) is referred to in French as "filer à l'anglaise" (literally, "flee English-style"), while the (now somewhat archaic) expression "French letter" (referring to a condom) is rendered in French as "capote anglaise" (English hood or cap). During the 16th century in England (as well as in Italy and much of the Holy Roman Empire), genital herpes was called the "French disease" and "French-sick" was a term for syphilis. These are also considered examples of Francophobia, as well as the thought that in continental Europe French armies were spreading sexually-transmitted diseases.

In popular culture

• In an episode of the television series Seinfeld, George Costanza remarks to Elaine that he once said to a woman, in an effort to impress her, that he coined the phrase.

• The phrase is used in the graphic novel Hulk:Gray, by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. In the book, the following line occurs: "Pardon my French, but that's the biggest pile of merde I've heard all day". Merde is French for "shit."

• The title of a 1935 Three Stooges short "Pardon My Scotch" suggests a variation on the phrase.

• Used in Ferris Buler's Day Off

• In The Simpsons shorts, episode "Burping Contest", Homer says "Pardon my French" after burping.

• In the 1990 movie, Tremors, Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) frequently states "Pardon my French" after swearing.

• In the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett, the related phrase "Pardon my Klatchian" is used as an equivalent, referring to the desert nation of Klatch, seen as barbarian.

• In the Saturday Night Live comedy sketch Celebrity Jeopardy, Norm Macdonald (impersonating Burt Reynolds) remarks to a previous statement: "Hey, I speak a little French. You're an asswipe, pardon my French."

• In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Sandy's Rocket, at one point a sleeping Squidward puts his tentacle on Patrick's helmet. Patrick and SpongeBob think he is an alien. When Squidward does this, Patrick yells, "Pardon my French, but GET THIS THING OFF ME!"

• In The TV Show South Park, episode The Jeffersons, Eric states "Well, excuse my French, Mrs. Marsh, but you can suck my fat hairy balls!" after being told not to go to Mr. Jefferson's home anymore.

• In the 1991 film Frankie and Johnny, Johnny (Al Pacino) says frequently "Pardon My French" after swearing in front of Frankie (Michelle Pfeiffer).

• Edited episodes of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson feature censorship based on this phrase. When Ferguson or his guests use profanity that the FCC won't allow, a French flag covers the mouth of the person speaking, and a voice-over by Ferguson saying "Ooh-la-la" is used to censor the curse word.

• In The Sopranos, Carmella Soprano frequently uses "pardon my French".

• In the TV series The Wire, episode "Reformation" the assistant state's attorney Rhonda Pearlman says "The fact is, the industry has all of us by the balls. Pardon my French, your honor. "

• In an episode of Mongrels (TV series), Nelson says "Whoa... Did you just call Vince a... Uh... A cunt if you'll pardon my French?"

Robin Thicke and Jay-z collaborated on the song, "Meiple" in 2009 in which Jay-z raps, "Avantgarde, lanvin socks/call me Picasso, Im art on yachts,/Pardon me, oui, in Paris,/Champagne spilling out of my oui oui (wee wee),/Pardon my French, the je ne sais quoi got me on cloud 9,/we finna take off, Paris was a tease now we in the Maldives/

Read more: http://www.killerhiphop.com/robin-thick-jay-z-me-i-play-meiple-lyrics/#ixzz1QrSV9Ixu