And here’s an article (from said thread) claiming that the origin is Belgian not France.
Frankly, I don’t see how anyone could think Dex “convincingly addressed” the points; seemed a rather lame “straight dope” with few sources and cites, and weak arguments.
[/slight hijack]
As to the OP, I find it ironic that we are now associating “French” fries with “freedom.” In other words, whenever I think of the “French” in fries, I’ll think of freedom…
That’s not how renormalization (a very standard process) works. To renormalize, you take the categories you’re interested in, sum up to get the total percentage recommended, and divide each value by that. I added 43% and 33% together to get 76%. 43%/76% is 56.5%, and 33%/76% is 43.5%. In other words, of the people who want some kind of fried potatoes, 56.5% would order them as freedom fries.
Classify this moronic action under “empty gestures” along with 48 year old Bruce Willis’s offer to enlist in the US army and help with the invasion of Iraq.:rolleyes:
Dex did cite the OED’s entry on “to french” (meaning to cut into strips), which claimed the term first appeared in 1895, several decades after the introduction of pommes frites.
Renormalization doesn’t make data any worse than it already is. It’s a way of figuring out what the odds of a certain response to question B given a certain response to question A. Nothing to be suspicious of just because of that.
That doesn’t mean that renormalized data is automatically valid, though. Take my data–it’s a self-selected subset of a self-selected population. No way in hell is anyone going to believe that it has any scientific merit. But it’s the best I have, so I posted it.
Because the only way to sell that crap is by naming it something patriotic. A more accurate name would be “vaguely cheese shaped solidified grease with yellow colouring, that tastes almost but not entirely unlike cheese”
We think in language. The word french and the concept of a nation that has turned it’s back on us in our time of need are inextricably linked now.
Why should the fried potato stick industry suffer because of our inability to control the subliminable messages recieved at mcdonalds?
And it will suffer you know.
Just ask the “Smokin’ Saddam’s” chain of fast food places.
Moreover, changing the name is a way of taking a national sore spot and turning it into a source of national pride. Just think, if you can wake up every morning, tell yourself “I love and accept myself for who I am right now” then surround yourself with good smells and other sensory input; get your day started the right way. Right about lunch time, you may be running low on inspiration, maybe a little cynical about the state of world affairs, but lo and behold, you go to burger king and eat some FREEDOM FRIES and you thank god your an american.
propaganda you say, I say affirmations for patriots.
So will the americans return the Statue of Liberty to the French? Must be quite jarring to see a French landmark every day in the greatest city in the world!!:rolleyes:
Perhaps we should issue new history textbooks to all American children, in which the revolution of 1776 is fought against the French, and the European general who helps the defiant colonists to win is called…the Marquis de TonyBlair.
think of it this way…
If people thought “well, the germans already have the money, no harm in buying these products” and then the shopkeeper sells out of all his german stuff. What does he do? He buys more because people seem to be buying it!