autant pour moi
French
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Whether the true orthography is autant pour moi or au temps pour moi is unknown. The two co-exist and have their proponents:
1) autant pour moi: an elliptic form of the expression « C'est autant pour moi », or « C'est autant d'erreur que l'on peut mettre à mon actif » (~ those are mistakes one can attribute to me). This version is defended by French writer and translator Claude Duneton.
2) au temps pour moi: according to the Académie Française, au temps ! originally meant to start all over again in the military (reprendre, recommencer). Then more extensively, it began to be used to agree to a mistake, and to agree to "start all over again" so as not to do it again. But this explanation is criticised by some people considering that this form is a pedantic respelling of autant pour moi.[1][2]
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]References
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- "autant pour moi", Dictionnaire des francophones [1]