# "Cheese-eating surrender monkeys" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 27, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340 "2003-01-27T21:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/241 "2003-01-31T13:42:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*He’s having a go at the Belgians now! \*\* Damn Sprouts!!! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/242 "2003-01-31T14:02:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*Il est étrange, mais même après le tout ceci, le souffle de mon chat sent toujours comme le fromage. > > Regards, > Shodan le pistolet obèse et argent-affamé possédant l’Américain \*\* It is strange, but even after the whole this, the breath of my cat always smells like cheese. Regards, Shodan the obese and money-famished gun having the American **I love translating programs!** ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/243 "2003-01-31T14:33:19Z")
OK, a hundred and fifty years ago or so there was similar loss of life in the US. So now you have two choices. If that event _was_ recent enough to still make the kind of dent in the collective psyche that I am talking about, you might want to have a bit of fucking empathy for another country that went through the same. Alternatively if it was _not_ recent enough for you to really appreciate what it means to have such an event in your country (and that means really appreciating what it would be like to have casualties in your country 130 times that of the WTC) then I suggest you lay off. Either way trying to justify the stereotype is still obnoxious. **Banquet bear** said it very well actually. What are you trying to do here? > [@](#): > > …so why are people trying to “PROVE” the French were cowards? How did we go from criticising the stereotype and defending it’s use, to actually trying to prove the stereotype is TRUE? Are you nuts? … says it all really. That’s what happens in these cases. The “joke” becomes reality, regardless of the underlying truth. pan ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/244 "2003-01-31T15:32:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*Parbleu, mon vieux! Le souffle de mon chat sent toujours comme l’aliment du chats, mais tout les francaises sent comme un fromage mauvais. Rouquefort, peut-etre. \*\* C’est le souffle de mon singe qui sent comme des aliments pour chats. Je le pense ai commencé à le voler quand le chat s’est rendu. > [@](#): > > _Orginally posted by BF_ > **Oh yeah? Well, your cat can lick my balls!** Quelle est la matière - maintenant vous des chats de haine? En outre, mon chat n’est pas encore fait avec mes boules. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Dryga\_Yes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Dryga\_Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dryga_Yes)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/245 "2003-01-31T15:50:45Z")
Before reading this thread, I thought the whole “LOL FRANCE SURRENDERS” thing was just a tired old joke that had been beaten into the ground a long time ago, but not something that anyone could be dumb enough to seriously believe. After reading a whole bunch of posts by fucking morons who try to defend it with “well they’re all saddam-lovers and arrogant and _they_ hate me just as much because they’re all bigoted anti-americans”, I have to admit I was mistaken. There _are_ people who are that dumb. So some people are doing it because they’re horribly unfunny people whose idea of a joke is parroting a bad catchphrase over and over again. Some people do it because they’re bigoted morons. Either way, just STOP. PLEASE. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/246 "2003-01-31T17:30:28Z")
More from the world of [friendly international relations](http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/cartoons/012903_stantis.jpg) (syndicated via Copley News Service). ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/247 "2003-01-31T17:51:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dryga\_Yes \* > \*\*After reading a whole bunch of posts by fucking morons…I have to admit I was mistaken. There _are_ people who are that dumb. > \*\* I agree. I didn’t think anybody on this board really hated the French people. I will joke about this kind of stuff 'till the cows come home as long as they are fairly obvious jokes but I couldn’t ever seriously hate another group of people. I will admit that I don’t see “nationalism” quite as bad as racism, sexism, gaybashing…etc but it’s still pretty fucking stupid to hate somebody because of the borders drawn around them. ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/248 "2003-01-31T18:35:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*C’est le souffle de mon singe qui sent comme des aliments pour chats. Je le pense ai commencé à le voler quand le chat s’est rendu. > > Quelle est la matière - maintenant vous des chats de haine? En outre, mon chat n’est pas encore fait avec mes boules. > > Regards, > Shodan \*\* Bwuh-hahahahahaa… Of course it may have lost something in the translator… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/249 "2003-01-31T19:39:14Z")
Just as a break from French-bashing, why do Belgians have their front teeth removed? So they can shove in the French fries without opening their mouths all the way. I found this almost incomprehensible when I was told it for the first time. The German who told it to me was convulsed by it. Of course, I don’t think Jerry Lewis is funny. Or the Simpsons. Make of that what you will. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/250 "2003-01-31T20:00:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*I wonder how many of you bring up Starvin’ Marvin whenever Ethiopia is mentioned? \*\* Sometimes I do. Only when the behavior being exhibited is like that from the show. ---
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/251 "2003-01-31T20:16:12Z")
Whoo boy. What a fun thread! I don’t normally spend much time in the pit, but here’s my $0.02 worth… Ok, CESM’s is not a term used by real bigots. They say stuff like "Fucking French assholes"or things similar. I know quite a few of them… people who truely hate the French and most bogots in general aren’t smart enough to conceptualize a monkey eating cheese, unless they saw it in a zoo. I use CESM myself, but always as a joke. The reason France gets the CESM joke-stereotype is because… Well the French attitude is kinda like the kid at school who’s a total culture snob, who snubs everyone but then gets pissed when they want to play with the kids in the neighborhood. No one likes a snob, except a snob. And they usually will talk shit behind the other snobs back anyway. France is the Friend you have who consistantly makes fun of you in a bad way, and never wants to do what the group is gonna do. “We’re all going to a movie” “Well I wanna go to the Mall”… …And just to point out something - France was _invaded_ in WWII. America was not. America was also not invaded in Veitnam. The USofA was coming to HELP people who were in serious need of assistance. So comapring the death tolls in any case is just piss-poor. That’s akin to having a buddy help you make a Thanksgiving dinner or fix a car or move and then telling them their contribution wasn’t as important as yours. And beyond that: Fuck you if you think that one life is worth more than another. …and you can call me a Yankee Imperialist Scumbag anytime you want, it still won’t have the same ring to it as any insult you can come up with a monkey reference in it (nor will it piss me off). ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/252 "2003-01-31T21:10:22Z")
Besides, they hated us first. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/253 "2003-01-31T22:32:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Milossarian \* > \*\*Besides, they hated us first. \*\* Excellent article, Milo. The analysis is spot on. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/254 "2003-01-31T23:10:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by broccoli! \* > \*\*…and you can call me a Yankee Imperialist Scumbag anytime you want, it still won’t have the same ring to it as any insult you can come up with a monkey reference in it (nor will it piss me off). \*\* BigMac-eating Scum-monkey ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/255 "2003-01-31T23:39:03Z")
I’m invoking the rule from [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2698644#post2698644). > [@](#): > > **"Any offensive term that makes the user look sillier than the victim is not, by definition, offensive."** ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/256 "2003-02-01T04:12:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > \*\*Why i hate the French: My father was killed by a catapulted cow \*\* Mine was taunted to death. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/257 "2003-02-01T04:27:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\*OK, a hundred and fifty years ago or so there was similar loss of life in the US. So now you have two choices. > > If that event _was_ recent enough … > > … then I suggest you lay off. > > Either way trying to justify the stereotype is still obnoxious. > \*\* You suggested that the US could never understand what the French went through in WW2. You did not give a time frame for that statement. I was pointing out that yes they could very well understand what the French went through. I was not defending the CESM thing at all I was pointing out the inaccuracy of your statement, so take a pill, will ya? In regards to CESM, being an avid Simpson’s fan myself, I can tell you that it wasn’t until years later that I finally understood what Willy said. For some reason I couldn’t process Willy’s accent and the line came out as gibberish in my brain. By the time I found out what he said it wasn’t funny anymore. Kind of like a joke explained afterwards. So, I have no vested interest in the matter. Now if you want to discuss about the French in Canada and my feelings about them, then by all means you can call me a bigot because I’ll be quite happy to rail on about their faults at length. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/258 "2003-02-01T06:35:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Milossarian \* > \*\*Besides, they hated us first. \*\* Great link! So good, in fact, that I linked it yesterday, back on page 5 or so… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/259 "2003-02-03T18:55:08Z")
Mini French lesson: “breath” as in “out of breath” = “souffle” “breath” as in “bad breath” = “haleine” You silly English-speaking Scottish grade-school janitors. Now go away or I shall taunt you a _second time_… ---
**Author:** ![Barks\_dog\_food](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@Barks\_dog\_food](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barks_dog_food)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340/260 "2003-02-04T20:34:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnT \* > \*\*Wars in which France has been on the winning side, fought valiently and with honor, but still needed entire continents worth of non-French soldiers and armaments in order to barely squeeze out a victory: > > WW1 > > Wars in which the French were Cheese-eating Surrender Monkeys: > > Napoleonic Wars > The Franco/Prussian War > WW2 > > \*\* I can’t belive this. France captured practically all of Europe in the Napoleonic wars while fighting a country that defeated the US without any difficulty at the same time. In The Franco/Preussian war the Germans had higher casualties than France. In WW2 France were beaten by a new tactic like the US at Pearl harbour. And if the french are surrender monkeys then the US is too for surrendering in the Phillipines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys/151340.md?page=14)