passez-moi l'expression
/pa.se.mwa l‿ɛk.spʁɛ.sjɔ̃/
The English phrase "pardon my French" can be translated into French as passez-moi l'expression.
This phrase is used to excuse one's own frankness of expression or the use of profanity.
Meaning: to excuse the speaker’s frankness of expression or profanity (verb)
Which one should you use?
While you might be tempted to say pardonnez mon français as a literal translation of the English idiom, this is not the idiomatic way a French person would apologize for using profanity. The natural equivalent is passez-moi l'expression.
How do you pronounce it?
It has 5 syllables.
Did you know?
- In France, the concept of 'swearing' is linguistically split between gros mots, which are 'big words' or vulgarities, and blasphèmes, which are religious profanities.
- If you used the literal translation pardonnez mon français in a conversation, a French person might think you are actually apologizing for your poor command of the language rather than for a swear word.
- While 'pardon my French' is used in English to apologize for swearing, the French phrase passez-moi l'expression is often used when using a word that is simply too blunt, crude or socially awkward, even if it is not technically a swear word.
Examples in context
- Passez-moi l'expression, ce film est vraiment nul.Pardon my French, this movie is really bad.
- C'est un bordel incroyable, passez-moi l'expression.It's a huge mess, pardon my French.
Example conversation
Léa and Gabriel are discussing a bad project at work.
- LéaLe rapport est vraiment moche, passez-moi l'expression.The report is really ugly, pardon my expression.
- GabrielJe suis d'accord, c'est très mal fait.I agree, it is very poorly done.
- LéaOn doit tout recommencer depuis le début.We have to start everything over from the beginning.
- GabrielOui, Léa, c'est la seule solution.Yes, Léa, it is the only solution.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “pardon my french” translations and entries passez-moi l'expression, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
