French MEP makes oral sex blunder

France’s former justice minister Rachida Dati caused a stir during a TV interview when she confused the word “inflation” with “fellatio”, as they sound similar in French.

27 September 2010, 12:00am

1 min read

She said yesterday during the interview with Canal Plus “I see some [foreign investment funds] looking for returns of 20 or 25% at a time when fellatio is close to zero."

Dati, 44, now a member of the European Parliament, laughed off the episode after, saying "I just spoke too quickly but, well, if that lets everybody have a laugh, then that's fine.”

The French word for fellatio is “fellation”, which bares a resemblance to the word “inflation”.

Within hours of the interview, the video was an internet hit on websites like YouTube.

Dati left government last year amid criticism of her management style, and gossip about her clothes and love life.

She is now an MEP and serves as mayor of Paris's seventh arrondissement.