what does the french expression 'sacre bleu!' mean in English?

Answer 1

Literally: sacred blue.
It's used in an expression like 'flipping heck'.

Answer 2

It's an archaic expression which in reality is an oath, a curse word. In fact it meant "sacré Dieu" = bloody God, so it was a blasphemy. In order to avoid pronouncing the word God, the word "Dieu" was changed into "bleu". The meaning of the phrase got softer as time passed and the original meaning fell into oblivion until the expression completely disappeared from usage. To translate it into English, you have to find an archaic expression of the same kind ("Good Heavens"?)

Answer 3

hi, i'm french and i can say you Sacre bleu mean nothing in french lol thats just an expression in old french,
when i say it, that mean than i am amazed, only
but that is a very funny expression

Answer 4

Originally it was Sacré Dieu!, Holy God!
But it was prohibited to swear by the name of God and people said Sacré Bleu!
cf tonnerre de bleu, God's thunder.

Answer 5

Holy blue!
It's very mild, and not necessarily an expression of dismay--it could be mere surprise. I'd say it's about equivalent to "Oh my goodness!"

Answer 6

Expressions in french, when translated would not have any meaning in English. Its just a saying. for example we say that's cool. Which you couldnt translate it in french to mean how we use it. Pretty much impossible to translate an expression.

Answer 7

It means sacred blue but it is not used by the french.

Answer 8

By God's blood, holy blue, or sacre bleu! (2 words in English literature)--more at
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sacre+bleu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrebleu
http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SACREBLEU
it is often used as--God forbid.
I hope it helps.

Answer 9

It is an expression of surprise or anoyance. Like in English we might say ''Hells bells!''

Answer 10

"Heavens!"

("sacre" = sacred or holy; "bleu" = blue, as in the color of the sky)