2006-07-21 14:15:24 · 22 answers · asked by ickle me 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
It is a phrase which originated when most people were taught French in school but not other languages (unless you were posh or a genius and learnt Latin too) so most people would have learnt a little French but not be very good at speaking it.
2006-07-23 12:21:33 · answer #1 · answered by monkeymanelvis 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Because for many people French is a "cultured" language that sophisticates learn just so they can play the elitist game. So when a common person swears and they say "pardon my French" they are making a joke about those people who throw French phrases into their speech in order to impress people while at the same time making another joke by acting like the person to whom they are speaking is so polite that they couldn't tell a curse word from a word of French, n'est pas? :o)
2006-07-21 14:24:49 · answer #2 · answered by Martin S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that the French are often seen as an obnoxious, ignorant, self-obsessed race, and this is our way of poking fun at them?
But you make a good point about German. After all, the word f**k comes from the German word 'frichen' (sp?) meaning 'to strike'.
2006-07-21 14:21:00 · answer #3 · answered by Burnsie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just listen to a person speaking french..... a lot of the syllables in there words sound like the syllables in our swear words...
plus no-one actually likes the french ( the country is beautiful, but the people are a bunch of dicks, I know cauz live 20 minutes away on the south coast of England )
so there you have our answer.
2006-07-21 19:25:53 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something to do with the normans invading England. This meant that the english language became mixed with norman French, the French language was the upper language and the english the lower base language for common folk. Thats why alot of French is mixed into English. Its probably something to do with that
2006-07-22 01:25:15 · answer #5 · answered by Dirk Wellington-Catt 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably because if you look in an actual french dictionary... F**K is an actual word, and has several words and phrases related to it. And someone told me who used to live abroad, that the French use the 'f' word freely when speaking, it is not taboo. Only a guess... but maybe this has something to do with it....
2006-07-21 14:19:23 · answer #6 · answered by Leigh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The phrase in this form started out in the 1950s. This is a result of racial stereotyping--Anglo-Saxons of the late 19th century blamed the French for anything remotely dirty. The belief started in the mid-19th century and held that was France sex-obsessed and pornographic.
2006-07-21 14:25:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh come now. when someone speaks in French, he could say the worst things about you and it'd sound great! Now the same guy saying glowing things about you auf Deutsch will sound really really bad. It's a guess but it works!
2006-07-21 14:27:44 · answer #8 · answered by Mama Otter 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because French is a bad language! A dying one as well.
2006-07-22 05:05:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a joke, like you don't understand what I said, so I pretend it's French and not bad language.
It could be German or Dutch or Chinese but then you'd ask why German or Dutch or Chinese.
2006-07-21 14:28:47 · answer #10 · answered by hi_patia 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋