# Did anything like the "Freedom Fries" incident happen before? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772 "2006-06-07T18:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/41 "2006-06-08T06:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > **Mathochist** : Also it’s happened since. In Iran for a while (possibly still) the pastries-formerly-known-as-“Danishes” were “Flowers of the Prophet Muhammad”. And that is particularly funny when you know that in Denmark they are known as Vienna bread. ---
**Author:** ![Twotwofive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Twotwofive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twotwofive)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/42 "2006-06-08T09:47:00Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > “German measles” was twice as frequently cited as “Liberty measles” in 1917-18 but that’s not terribly significant using my database. What would the objection have been to “German measles”? It’s hardly as though people could choose to avoid catching it if it was associated with a hostile power, and I can’t believe that anyone had such fond feelings for the disease that they wanted to remove any association with the teutons. In fact, surely it would have made for a better propaganda effort to prefix _all_ diseases with “German”. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/43 "2006-06-08T11:51:46Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > And that is particularly funny when you know that in Denmark they are known as Vienna bread. Heh. The grass is always greener on the other side of the border, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/44 "2006-06-08T12:44:50Z")
Similar: Adolph “Harpo” Marx legally changed in name to Arthur Marx after Hitler came to power. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/45 "2006-06-08T13:02:33Z")
There was a class of steam locomotives commonly refered to as the Mikado (wheel arrangement 2-8-2 if anyone cares) that during WWII was redubbed the MacArthur. It didn’t last long after the war… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/46 "2006-06-08T13:19:56Z")
Wasn’t one of them hamburger --\> Salisbury steak? ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/47 "2006-06-08T15:54:56Z")
There is a thoroughfare in North La Crosse known as Liberty Street that can be seen in the original platte as Berlin Street. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/48 "2006-06-08T20:01:36Z")
Kiwifruit used to be called Chinese Gooseberries in NZ. When we started to sell then to the US in the early 70s I heard we changed the name because of the low opinion of anything chinese at that time in the states. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/49 "2006-06-08T21:16:59Z")
For a proper comparison, could one of the folks with access to the newspaper databases perhaps search for “French fries” and “Freedom fries” in the recent newspapers? The question wasn’t whether the general public accepted the new names, but whether the situation was analogous to the current “Freedom fries” silliness. For “Liberty measles”, I suspect that it was a case of humorists making fun of the trend, just as humorists today do, and the jokes becoming more popular than what they were lambasting. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/50 "2006-06-08T23:11:07Z")
> [@scm1001](#): > > Kiwifruit used to be called Chinese Gooseberries in NZ. When we started to sell then to the US in the early 70s I heard we changed the name because of the low opinion of anything chinese at that time in the states. It had nothing to do with ethnicity: there were gooseberries in the US, but few Americans liked them, so the name was changed to eliminate that connection. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/51 "2006-06-09T00:08:55Z")
The Russian capital St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, which it remained until the communists came to power and changed the name to Leningrad. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/52 "2006-06-09T01:48:10Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > Another example would be the name change from “frankfurter” to “hot dog” during WWII. The name didn’t magically change from “frankfurter” to “hot dog” during WWI. You have to remember that the term “hot dog” only started in the early 1890’s and was pretty limited until the early 1900’s. I could bore you with “hits” on a newspaper database, but suffice it to say that during the years 1917-1918 when the US had a stake in WWI, “frankfurter” gets 1054 hits, “hot dog” gets 117 hits. True, after the war, the hits were about even. But I think I can safely say that the new-fangled term “hot dog” was merely replacing the older terms for that delicacy. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/53 "2006-06-09T18:29:12Z")
> [@Bill Door](#): > > What Snopes says is false, is false. Kato was always a Filipino of Japanese ancestry. After Pearl Harbor they just stopped talking about it. They didn’t change his origin, they just ignored it. That’s actually exactly what Snopes says: “he was ‘described as a Filipino of Japanese descent at least two years earlier’ than the events of 7 December 1941. The ‘Japanese descent’ part of his character may have been downplayed thereafter, but he had indeed been identified as a Filipino well before 1941.” ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/54 "2006-06-09T18:57:08Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > That’s actually exactly what Snopes says: > > “he was ‘described as a Filipino of Japanese descent at least two years earlier’ than the events of 7 December 1941. The ‘Japanese descent’ part of his character may have been downplayed thereafter, but he had indeed been identified as a Filipino well before 1941.” Well then why, when I said > [@Bill Door](#): > > Until WWII the Green Hornet’s faithful companion Kato, was of Japanese ancestry. After December 7, 1941 his ancestry was never mentioned. you replied: > [@OldGuy](#): > > Snopes says this is false. > > [http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/radio/kato.htm](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/radio/kato.htm) I feel like we’re agreeing with each other, but I’m not quite sure. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/55 "2006-06-09T19:26:34Z")
The [Greatest American Hero](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_American_Herold) had his last name changed from Hinkley to Hanley after John Hinckley shot Presidential Reagen. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/56 "2006-06-09T21:07:15Z")
> [@Bill Door](#): > > Until WWII the Green Hornet’s faithful companion Kato, was of Japanese ancestry. After December 7, 1941 his ancestry was never mentioned. Filipino, didn’t it change to? Bob ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/57 "2006-06-10T10:42:32Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] For a proper comparison, could one of the folks with access to the newspaper databases perhaps search for “French fries” and “Freedom fries” in the recent newspapers? The question wasn’t whether the general public accepted the new names, but whether the situation was analogous to the current “Freedom fries” silliness. [/QUOTE] WAG: There will be lots of hits on Freedom fries, and almost all of them will be articles about “the current ‘Freedom fries’ silliness”. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/58 "2006-06-10T16:17:55Z")
[QUOTE=urban1z] Filipino, didn’t it change to? Bob [/QUOTE] Nope, he was always Filipino, born of Japanese parents. After WWII they quit referring to his ancestral heritage. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/59 "2006-06-10T21:26:49Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] It had nothing to do with ethnicity: there were gooseberries in the US, but few Americans liked them, so the name was changed to eliminate that connection. [/QUOTE] cite? At least Wiki agrees with me “The fruit gets its name from a marketing strategy, naming it after the kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand, where the fruit was first commercially popularised in 1959 by the New Zealand fruit-and-vegetable export company Turners and Growers; previously it was known as the Chinese gooseberry, but due to the Cold War, the Chinese label seemed unfit for popularization of the fruit in Western countries. Growers gradually adopted the name and in 1974 the kiwifruit became the official trade name.” from [Kiwifruit - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit) ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772/60 "2006-06-11T18:30:21Z")
[QUOTE=anson2995] Cite, please? I believe it’s called “French Toast” because it’s coated with an egg, just like “Chicken French.” Same reasoning behind the name “French Vanilla.” [/QUOTE] I thought it was called French Toast because it was a French custom to fry stale bread. But I could be wrong. The history of French toast is less complex, but also less certain. The most popular theory on the origin of French toast—bread slices fried in egg batter—states this recipe was created by a tavern owner in 1724 just outside Albany, New York. Supposedly, Joseph French, the restaurateur, listed the dish on his menu as ‘French Toast,’ named for himself. This is why the French in French toast is often capitalized. [Cite](http://learn-french-software-review.toptenreviews.com/pardon-my-french.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anything-like-the-freedom-fries-incident-happen-before/359772.md?page=4)