"Parler français comme une vache espagnole" literally means "to speak French like a Spanish cow." Less literally, it means to speak French poorly. While Spanish cows probably don't speak French too well, it seems a little cruel to pick on them for their lack of linguistic ability; surely American cows are much worse. In fact, the phrase is an example of evolved nonsense-- several French websites pointed to its origins in the phrase "parler français comme un basque l'espagnol." (In English, "to speak French like a Basque speaks Spanish.")

More fun French cow phrases found at http://www.lavache.com/infos/proverb/proverb.htm.

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