Emmanuel Macron's 'delicious wife' comment leaves people scratching heads

There's no doubting French President Emmanuel Macron's excellent grasp of English.

But given French and English share numerous words that sound similar but have different meanings, there's bound to be some expressions that get lost in translation.

Macron, who is currently visiting Australia, left people scratching their heads when he referred to the Australian prime minister's wife, Lucy Turnbull, as "delicious" at a press conference on Wednesday.

"I want to thank you for your welcome, you and your delicious wife," he said.

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Given that "delicious" primarily refers to food and can be construed as having a sexual connotation, people couldn't help but snigger at the odd translation.

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Of course, délicieux in French translates to delicious in English. While the primary definition in French is to indicate something is tasty, it can be used to describe someone as delightful.

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For English speakers, it'd be like using the French word "excité" to describe yourself as excited, but in French that means you're sexually aroused.

On Thursday, the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters his wife Lucy was "very flattered" by the compliment.

"She’s asked me to say that she found the President’s compliment as charming as it was memorable," he said.

UPDATE: May 3, 2018, 3:13 p.m. AEST Added comment from Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.