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Sacrebleu!
Sacrebleu is a very old fashioned French curse, which is rarely used by the French these days. An English equivalent would be “My Goodness!” or “Golly Gosh!” It was once considered very offensive. The reason the English presume all the French say sacrebleu! can be blamed on Agatha Christie’s fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who was very fond of the phrase.
Zut Alors!
This is another expression you’ll probably have heard said in more English than French. It’s an old fashioned soft curse that is often translated as “darn” or “shoot”. You’ll likely draw a few smirks or strange glances if you use it these days. The shorter version “zut” is however used more frequently and won’t get you into trouble.
Mon Dieu!
The “oh my god” of French is another one that seems more common in English than in French, however unlike “sacrébleu” and “zut alors”, you’ll still hear it being said in France these days, although perhaps not so much among the younger generation.
