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Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] Excuse my FrenchMeaning Please forgive my swearing. Origin A coy phrase used when someone who has used a swear-word attempts to pass it off as French. The coyness comes from the fact the both the speaker and listener are of course both well aware the swear-word is indeed English. This is mid 20th century English in origin. A version of it is found in Michael Harrison's All Trees were Green, 1936:
The precise phrase comes just a few years later in S.P.E. Tract IV., 1940:
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