Concluding a joint press conference in Sydney, Macron went on to express his gratitude to Malcolm Turnbull and his wife, Lucy, for their hospitality.
“I want to thank you for your welcome, thank you and your delicious wife for your warm welcome,” the French president said, oblivious of the gaffe which immediately set social media ablaze.
"I want to thank you for your welcome, you and your delicious wife for the warm welcome." — French President @EmmanuelMacron has had an unfortunate slip of the tongue at a press conference with @TurnbullMalcolm. #auspol #7News pic.twitter.com/UEOICUfTHL
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) 2 мая 2018 г.
While some couldn’t help but poke fun at the awkwardness of the situation, posting the best gifs they had in store…
— Zoe Butcher (@thezoverlord) 2 мая 2018 г.
— The Food Umbrella ن (@thefoodumbrella) 2 мая 2018 г.
"thank you and your delicious wife" — Macron pic.twitter.com/4v3lCHOsH1
— Jason Cutler (@JaseCutler) 2 мая 2018 г.
— Erin Mould (@pfinger18) 2 мая 2018 г.
…others “blamed” it all on his French “romantic” nature:
Macron just said he wanted to thank Malcolm Turnbull and his "delicious wife".
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) 2 мая 2018 г.
You can take the man out of France but…
@abcnews @EmmanuelMacron @TurnbullMalcolm he’s French. He could read the bus timetable out loud and it would sound romantic and awesome. Welcome to Australia Emmanuel.
— damokym (@damokym) 2 мая 2018 г.
There were those, however, who tried to explain that it was a false friend for any French speaker, as “délicieuse” in French means “delightful”:
Macron seems unaware that you can't really use the word "delicious" in English exactly the same way as "délicieuse" in French.
— Lermont (@Lermont) 2 мая 2018 г.
Quite obviously, he only meant that her hospitality was very pleasant.
Oh well, at least that gives us something to smile about…☺️
LOL — in french calling someone"délicieux" means they are delightful — he finds her charming
— Laura Walker 🍸🦈 (@LauraWalkerKC) 2 мая 2018 г.
A clear case of “lost in translation” right here, “délicieuse” can be used in French to describe a charming person and Macron misused the word probably assuming it meant the same in English, us multilinguals do this all the time 😂
— Niru Dassanayake (@nirunaveenda) 2 мая 2018 г.
Many defended the president, who apparently, slipped up in his use of English, stressing that very few leaders speak several languages:
Oh come on give the guy a break sometimes words get lost in translation🙄✌ pic.twitter.com/YwUK1LLheW
— Debbie June Too (@DebbieJuneToo1) 2 мая 2018 г.
😐The guy has the courage and competence to conduct speeches and interviews in his second language. How many US, British, or Australian politicians can do the same? A few… but not many! Give him a break!
— David Bellis (@BlueRockFox) 2 мая 2018 г.
Yo! I keep saying being multilingual is hard! I really feel for Pres Macron here for this literal English translation of French word « délicieuse » which can also mean delightful/lovely but ended up calling Australia’s PM’s wife “delicious” 😅 pic.twitter.com/zEZXrmHRrD
— Victoria Uwonkunda (@Msuwonkunda) 2 мая 2018 г.
Emmanuel Macron paid a short visit to Australia for official talks with Prime Minister Turnbull on trade, defense and climate change.
