Just wondering...where did the term "Pardon my French" come from? Is it that the French swear more than other people? Or is it a political statement, so to speak?
The French and the English have been traditional enemies since the Norman Conquest of 1066. This shows in their choices of insults. The first well-recorded outbreak of syphilis was in Naples in 1494 (according to Wikipedia), and it quickly spread across Europe. An outbreak in the French army led to it's being labeled morbus gallicus, the French disease, or the French pox (OED Online, 1503). So French began to be applied to things that were considered sexy, racy, or "bad." Thus, "bad" language was "French." Hugh Rawson (Wicked Words, 1989) says "Pardon my French" originated in the 19th century. See my earlier post for more "French" terms.
The strange thing is that just about every swear word comes from Old English, prior to the Norman Conquest. The English version of various body parts became vulgar, while the French/Latin words became the acceptable version.
I am reading McCourt's Teacher Man, which talks about language a lot because McCourt teaches English. I loved this quote:
"Imagine what the English language would be like if you removed French words. You wouldn't be able to order your chauffeur to bring around your limousine anymore. You'd have to say underwear instead of lingerie. You couldn't go to a restaurant. No more cuisine, no more gourmet, no sauce, menu, chef, perfume. You'd have to find a new word for brassiere."
When you think about it, we owe a lot to French. Which language (besides Latin and Greek) has the most words in English, do you think? French?
French had a huge influence on English. From 1066 to 1362, Old French was the official language of England. I have no facts to hand, but I'd guess that there are more words of French origin than words of Latin or Greek origin in English.
It also influenced our spelling - "soft c" and "soft g" are French. Even words of Old English origin were respelled.
Not just any old French, but the Norman dialect of French. As it changed in England, it became known as Anglo-Norman, and technically it remained the official language of courts until sometime in the 18th century. One of the differences between Norman and Ile-de-France (i.e., Parisian) French, was that the former did not palatalize /k/ before front vowels: castle instead of chateau, cattle instead of chattel, etc.
From 1066 to 1362, Old French was the official language of England.
I don't remember where I read this; it's from an essay I wrote a while ago and it could be wrong. Are you saying that Norman French was the official language, not Old French?
Are you saying that Norman French was the official language, not Old French?
Well, I guess you could say that England was invaded by people speaking the Norman dialect of Old French, but I've never read that William the Conqueror spoke Old French, just Norman French.
