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Today’s lesson will cover one of the most fun expressions in the entire French language: Parler français comme une vache espagnole. This expression translates literally to: “to speak French like a Spanish cow” and means “to butcher the French language” or “to speak horribly”. The expression can be applied to any language.
parler français comme une vache espagnole
to speak French horribly
Expression Origin
The most plausible hypothesis is this expression comes from the Occitan (group of southern French langauges) expression parlar coma un gavach espanhòl, with gabatch meaning a seasonal worker coming from the Pyrenees mountains.
Example sentences
Quand John est arrivé en France il y a un an il parlait comme une vache espagnole. Maintenant il maîtrise vraiment bien la langue !
When John arrived in France a year ago he spoke French horribly. Now he masters the language really well!
Ton accent américain est affreux ! Tu parles français comme une vache espagnole !
Your American accent is awful! You speak French horribly!
J’étudie le français depuis très longtemps mais je parle toujours comme une vache espagnole !
I’ve been studying French for a long time but I still butcher the language!
References
