pardonnez mon français

9.9

A French phrase people say jokingly before or after a mild swear word

idiom
/pɑrˈdɔneɪ mɒ̃ frɑ̃ˈseɪ/

Informal

: perdona mi francés

She smiled and said, 'pardonnez mon français,' before uttering a mild swear word.

Examples

He blushed and muttered, 'pardonnez mon français,' after making a crude joke.
I must say, pardonnez mon français, but that movie was terrible!
Before voicing her frustration, she added jokingly, 'pardonnez mon français.'
Oh, pardonnez mon français!
Before expressing her annoyance, she added playfully, 'pardonnez mon français,' in a light-hearted tone.
He chuckled and said, 'pardonnez mon français,' right before he shared his thoughts on the controversial topic.
She raised her eyebrow and remarked, 'pardonnez mon français,' when she accidentally used a stronger word than intended.

Synonyms

pardon my French

vspardonnez mon français

Informal

1 8.4

A short, humorous apology after saying a swear word

is the same in meaning but expressed in French form

Surface Forms

pardonnez mon français main

Morphology

pardonnez + mon + français

The literal composition is directly understandable if a learner knows the French words: 'pardonnez' (forgive) + 'mon' (my) + 'français' (French) yields 'forgive my French.' However, the idiomatic pragmatic use—apologizing for coarse or offensive language—is a cultural/pragmatic extension that is not fully predictable from the parts alone, so learners may not infer the exact conversational function without exposure.

Etymology

Pardonnez mon français is a French phrase that English speakers borrowed as a funny apology, and the words pardonnez and français mean 'forgive' and 'French', so it literally says 'forgive my language'. One popular story says people used to say 'pardon my French' when they used a foreign word or a swear, and today pardonnez mon français is used the same way to warn or excuse rough or rude language.