Can Anyone out there tell me the origin of the expression "Pardon my French" ?

Question

As you will no doubt know, (if you are English at least) the term is used when you utter a swear word unintentionaly in company. are we saying that "somethng" French is naughty,dirty, what?
Today at work the expression was uttered to a young French girl working in my department here in Eire & she was dumbfounded as she had never heard the expression before.
when she asked as to what it was supposed to mean they stated "it is an English thing!" and pointed her in my direction as to the answer...Me being English that is!
The only suggestion I can think of is that it is some sort of derogotary term associated with the long standing feud between our Countries & probably stems back to feudal times or the like? any suggestions anyone?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

This phrase, in which French refers to "bad language", is employed when the speaker feels compelled to use an obscenity despite having listeners who might be offended. It's a late 19th century euphemism which first appeared in Harper's Magazine in 1895.

It is thought that the term French is employed in this sense as it
already had a history of association with things considered vulgar.
As far back as the early 16th century, French pox and the French disease were synonyms for genital herpes, and French-sick was another term for syphillis. The OED [Oxford English Dictionary] also equates the adjective French with "spiciness", as in French letter for "condom", French kiss (1923) and French (i.e. "sexually explicit") novels (from 1749).

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Brill! I certainly wasn't incorrect in my presumption as to it's meaning and this answer was certainly informative enough to print out & show my young French colleague the basis of the meaning! it also served a secondary purpose of being able to explain the meaning without getting my face slapped!!

Answer 2

I was thinking just this the other day, lets hope someone knows!

Answer 3

The French are known for their vulgarity. For example, if you called someone a "whore" it would be pretty insulting, but to call someone a "French whore" seems to multiply the insult by 10.

Answer 4

Perhaps that is the idea. What do French say in that case ?
Usually when I heard that I say: "Oh, you speak French ?"
But I have seen that my expression doesn't fit with theirs

Answer 5

I know that it was NOT coined by Frank Costanza on 'Seinfeld.'