…good intentions turn out wrongly. But in a funny way.
Yesterday in church, we had a lady slip into the service late. She sat quietly, received communion, and then during the last hymn, slipped out again.
I thought I should check she was okay, so I followed her out. She explained she was in Royat for “a cure” (to take the waters) and that she had been going for a walk, seen the chapel and pushed the door to see if it was open. We had a little chat and then she turned to go.
“Dieu te —-” I started, wanting to say “God bless you”, but realised I couldn’t think of the French for “bless”. So, in desperation, I thought “Use the English word but with a French accent ” (it does sometimes work) and said “Dieu te blessé”
As soon as it was out of my mouth I knew it was wrong. Because “blesser” means “to injure/ to do harm” I’d just asked God to do her harm. No, I yelped. She looked confused, but then smiled and said in French “It’s difficult, isn’t it?”
Oh, I did feel a fool. “God give you good things…” I managed to say, but I’m not convinced she understood. Hey ho.
View from the Teapot 
Oops! I’m sure she understood you meant her no harm.
In her autobiography, maria von trapp says when the family escaped the Nazis and got to the USA, she struggled with English, She went to the market and found the cabbage too expensive. She confused German verbs for keep [behalten] and obtain [bekommen] with similar sounding english ones – and said to the vendor “Behold your cabbage, I can become cabbage myself much cheaper round the corner”
I’m sure she realized you meant well. :) It was very kind of you to follow her out and check on her. I’m sure she appreciated that.
Your intentions were good, and I am sure your tone and manner conveyed the meaning of your message. For the record, the verb to bless is bénir in French and you would say “Que Dieu te/vous bénisse”.