When Gérard Larcher, president of the French Senate, recently told left-wing populist party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon to ferme ta gueule (Shut the fuck up) before nine a.m. on French radio station RTL, it barely registered. Éric Ciotti, the Republicans’ president, added only, “Well done. Couldn’t say it better.”
Swearing has become a national sport in France. A recent Preply survey revealed that the French swear six times a day, on average, and that’s only online. (The fact that foreigners tend to stereotype the French as rude may be attributed to this phenomenon.)
