Why do we say "Pardon My French"?

Meaning:

.

Background:

Along with “Excuse my French,” this phrase is sometimes added when a person has employed a swear word in a sentence, and is attempting to lighten their usage of the expletive. “French” is meant to substitute for the crass word, with the speaker pretending that the epithet is actually a word in a foreign language rather than a vulgarity. One example is from the classic movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off: “Pardon my French, but you’re an a**hole.” (Slightly softer, I’m sure you’ll agree, than just bluntly saying, “You’re an a**hole.”)

In 19th century Europe, French was widely considered the language of refinement. It was used across the continent in diplomatic situations, in salons, and among the erudite. Naturally, the posh set in Great Britain adopted the habit of dropping French into their conversation to sound classier. They would then apologize for inserting foreign words - some speculate it was to demean the person to whom they were speaking, making clear their superiority over their listener, while others felt it was a true apology for unintentionally using words their audience might not understand. One oft-quoted example is from an 1830 story in The Lady's Magazine:

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.

(One source points out that the person is apologizing for using French but not for calling the person rotund!)

In short, regardless of intent, “pardon my French” was originally meant literally.

The phrase gradually shifted meaning in Britain, in part due to the animosity between the oh-so-proper English and the French, whom the English saw as lascivious. “French” began to get applied to all sorts of sexually suggestive terms – French kiss, French pox (syphilis), French letters (condoms), etc. As a result, naughty terms became the “French” that people were apologizing for using.

By the early 20th century, this linguistic substitution had become common. According to Phrases.uk, one of the earliest references to its figurative use is found in Michael Harrison’s 1936 work, All the Trees Were Green:

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

Today, no one uses “pardon my French” literally; it’s always understood that it’s an apology – usually tongue in cheek – for inserting a rude word into one’s conversation.

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