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THE FRENCH YOU DON’T LEARN AT SCHOOL Certain French words and phrases are bandied about by Anglophones keen to sprinkle a little _soupçon_ of French into everyday conversation, despite them

not necessarily being either grammatically correctly or even understandable by a French native. The book _Sacré Bleu_ is a perfect case in point. While it is a clever word play, in that the

word _bleu_ here is a sideways reference to the French football team’s well-loved nickname, the word _sacré_ (pronounced “_sack-ray_”) incorrectly employs – if the author intends to use the

Anglicised version of the French phrase – an acute accent on the “e”. In fact, the French would say “_sacrebleu_” (with the _sacre_ bit pronounced as “_sac-reuh_”) to describe their sense of

anger, frustration, astonishment or admiration in a given situation. The expression _sacrebleu_ is a softened version – for the God-fearing back in the day – of “_sacredieu_” (Holy God)

where _bleu_ (blue) is put in the place of _dieu_ (God) to avoid accusations of blasphemy. In the Middle Ages, uttering God's name could spell corporal punishment. Officially speaking,

the adjective sacré comes from the Latin verb _sancire_: to make inviolable by a religious act and then by extension to delimit, to make sacred. It implies a separation and a transcendence.

One curious and confusing side note: your language noter’s toddler came home from school recently with a nasty bump on his knee. His mother gasped as she pointed: “_T’as un sacré bleu, mon

fils!_” (You have a nasty bruise there, my son!). Yes, un bleu is a bruise. RELATED ARTICLES FRENCH LANGUAGE DEFENDERS SUE NOTRE-DAME OVER ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS LA DICTÉE: HOW A SPELLING TEST

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