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.
While some couldn’t help but poke fun at the awkwardness of the situation, posting the best gifs they had in store…
…others “blamed” it all on his French “romantic” nature:
There were those, however, who tried to explain that it was a false friend for any French speaker, as “délicieuse” in French means “delightful”:
Many defended the president, who apparently, slipped up in his use of English, stressing that very few leaders speak several languages:
Emmanuel Macron paid a short visit to Australia for official talks with Prime Minister Turnbull on trade, defense and climate change.