French letter

English

Etymology

From French +‎ letter. Compare earlier French pox, French-sick (“syphilis”), or later French safe, French tickler (“condom”), or French kiss. Attested from the 19th century.

Noun

French letter (plural French letters)

1. (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, dated, euphemistic) A condom.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:condom

   • 1984, Leslie Thomas, In my Wildest Dreams, page 289:

     ‘So you’re fifteen – and you know the function of a “French letter”? You are familiar with its use?’
     ‘I know what it’s for, sir, yes.’

   • 2012, Courtney Milan, A Kiss for Midwinter‎^[1], page 80:

     “I suppose it’s too much to hope that you have a question about gonorrhea. Those questions are so much easier to answer.” […]
     “I was going to ask about what you said earlier. That you’d... that you’d... not used a French letter in eighteen months.”

Derived terms

• Frenchie

Translations

condom — see condom

References

• “French, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2009.