# Screw you guys, I like the French **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 13, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194 "2003-03-13T22:30:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/1 "2003-03-13T22:30:46Z")
What is it with all the French bashing on this and other message boards? I’m all up for a laugh at the expense of the French (type ‘french military victories’ into google and press ‘I’m feeling lucky’) but enough is enough. I even saw French bashing on the US version of Robot Wars ffs. OK, Napolean wanted to rule all of Europe, who didn’t at the time? OK, they didn’t do too well in WWI, who did? OK, they didn’t do too well in WWII, who did? Don’t tell me loosing 1,000,000 US and UK servicemen on the ‘minor’ European front was doing well. Besides, the only land joined country who stood up to Germany was Russia. Do we hate the Polish for surrendering? No. So fucking what? That was 50/80/200 years ago for fucks sake. Have you forgotten the French achievements? Their ‘chic’ - it’s the Yanks who say 'erbs. Louis Pastuer - those who don’t drink Pasteurised milk stand up. Their archeture. Didn’t they help the Yanks in the War of Independence? It was the Frenchman Descartes who said ‘I think, therefore I am’, he also invented calculus as we know it today (yes, I know Newton also has credit, but it’s Descartes notation we still use) The beginning of the nuclear age was started by Henri Becquerel who found that radiation ionises in air. So please, don’t attack the French just for the sake of it. Tuco (who’s last name only may have came across the cahnnel in 1066) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/2 "2003-03-13T22:52:35Z")
Yeah. I think that this French bashing makes Americans look even more like ignoramuses, if that is even possible. I am descended from Huguenots who came to America in 1700. They were welcomed with open arms. Later, my ancestors fought in the French and Indian Wars (on the English side) and the Revolutionary War for the yanks. Of course, by that time they weren’t French; they were American, and proud of it. France and the US have enjoyed a lengthy alliance. It’s absolutely disgraceful for us to be bashing them for having their own opinion about this stupid-ass war. It is even more disgraceful that our political and military leaders encourage this reprehensible behavior by engaging in it themselves. They send the message that it’s not only o.k., but patriotic to show disrespect to our allies who disagree with us on such a debatable matter. Fuck them. I refuse to engage in that jingoistic shitheadedness. ---
**Author:** ![SLASH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SLASH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SLASH)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/3 "2003-03-13T23:27:44Z")
It is very stupid, but I have a feeling that the restaurant owner in NC who changed the name of French fries to freedom fries was doing it more for publicity then any patriotism. At least I hope that’s what it was. Anyway yeah I like France and this French bashing is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/4 "2003-03-14T00:27:32Z")
Actually, for a large part of my childhood, I didn’t drink pasteurised milk. The reason being was we lived on a dairy farm and we just dipped a bucket into the holding tank and drank it straight (after we made it skim). That said, I like the french and am not a big fan of the bashing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/5 "2003-03-14T00:33:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by An Arky \* > \*\*I refuse to engage in that jingoistic shitheadedness. \*\* So, then you agree that the French are being assholes. Cool. Oh, you mean the _US’s_ jingoistic shitheadedness. Gotcha. Erm…so, why is it ok for the French to be jingoistic assholes, and not Americans? ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/6 "2003-03-14T00:51:25Z")
Because they have savoir faire. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/7 "2003-03-14T00:52:10Z")
Off to look up jingoistic- > [@](#): > > jingoistic > adj : fanatically patriotic [syn: chauvinistic, flag-waving(a), nationalistic, superpatriotic] Whilst I respect (and am jealous of) the flag-waving and patriotism, feeling ‘we are better than everyone else so go fcuk yourselves’, being jingoistic is not being an asshole. Nothing personal **Demise** , but the thought that being flag-waving and fanatically patriotic ([dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com)’s words, not mine) doesn’t seem to be being assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/8 "2003-03-14T00:57:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuco \* > \*\*Nothing personal Demise, but the thought that being flag-waving and fanatically patriotic ([dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com)’s words, not mine) doesn’t seem to be being assholes. \*\* I’m sorry, but I really have no idea what this sentence is supposed to mean. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/9 "2003-03-14T01:04:29Z")
What about Louis Braille? Wasn’t he also French? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/10 "2003-03-14T01:07:15Z")
**Demise** , I hardly think the French are being French chauvinists about this whole thing. They merely believe that the war isn’t what they want. However, from what I’ve heard, the Americans seem to think that this means “Damn Freedom!” since obviously, exercising _their_ freedom of choice is bad, because people should only have the freedom to choose if it’s in favour of the Americans. Now, obviously this view is a little extreme for effect, but you get my point. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/11 "2003-03-14T01:08:50Z")
Hmm… by “_their_”, I mean the French’s. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/12 "2003-03-14T01:31:51Z")
Any country that has produced Catherine Deneuve, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust, and the films of Jean Renoir and Jean-Pierre Jeunet is OK by me. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/13 "2003-03-14T01:32:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Demise \* > \*\*I’m sorry, but I really have no idea what this sentence is supposed to mean. \*\* Sorry, let me elaborate - the defintion of jingoistic (I’m going by [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com)’s definition here) seems to mean fanatically patriotic, a lot of which I see on TV as the ‘All-American way’. As this is what I (and I assume most of, my fellow countrypersons) see as ‘American way of thinking’, I assumed that the thought of being ‘jingoistic’ was, as I’ve seen a lot of Americans do this, is the ‘American way’ of thinking towards the present dispute. Sorry if I thought this was wrong; I am only going by the ‘media-US’ not the ‘Reall-US’. Sorry once again, I really did NOT want to cause another dispute. If anyone else wants to question my phrasing, please do so. ---
**Author:** ![Wabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/14 "2003-03-14T01:53:43Z")
I also like the French–they’re one of the funniest cultures we have here on planet Earth in my opinion. Did any of you see the opening ceremonies to the Olympics (I believe it was the Winter Olympics in fact) that was held in France a few years ago? Huh–FREAKIN-larius!! They had some guys riding around on unicycles with 30+ ft. tall condom/hats with a helium balloon at the end. I laughed so hard I almost wet myself when I saw that. It still ranks as one of the funniest moments on TV in Wabbit-land. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/15 "2003-03-14T02:05:49Z")
Hey, **Tuco,** , I just saw your location. An Englishman defending the French; that cracks me up!😉 I think that the media portray Americans as being jingoistic, but it’s just that the media always show the ugly side of people; it’s shock value entertainment. Doubleplus good! Just like they always show the same stock footage of Palestinians burning the American flag, etc. In reality, America is somewhat divided on this war, but the media tend to portray people opposing the war as clueless hippies. It’s not really true. Plenty of “normal” people are suspicious of the timing and motivation of the war, or simply oppose war on principle (like my wife, who is a Quaker). But those folks don’t get on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Yumanite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b487fb/32.png) [@Yumanite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumanite)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/16 "2003-03-14T02:12:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Demise \* > \*\* > Erm…so, why is it ok for the French to be jingoistic assholes, and not Americans? \*\* Could you explain how the French are being jingoistic (because I don’t see that at all)? Beside, even if the French ARE being jingoistic assholes, I’m personally far more disgusted by the American juvenilia because I’m, you know, American. It reflects badly on me personally, and is very embarassing. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/17 "2003-03-14T02:28:21Z")
“France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country” —Mark Twain “I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me.” — General George S. Patton “Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion.” –Norman Schwartzkopf “We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it.” ---- Marge Simpson “As far as I’m concerned, war always means failure” —Jacques Chirac, President of France “As far as France is concerned, you’re right.” —Rush Limbaugh, “The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee.” — Regis Philbin “The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don’t know.” — P.J O’Rourke (1989) “You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn’t have the face for it.” —John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona “You know why the French don’t want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates America, he loves mistresses and wears a beret. He is French, people.” –Conan O’Brien “I don’t know why people are surprised that France won’t help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn’t help us get the Germans out of France!” —Jay Leno “The last time the French asked for ‘more proof’ it came marching into Paris under a German flag.” –David Letterman “The next time there is a war the loser has to keep France.” –Anonymous ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/18 "2003-03-14T02:47:20Z")
Bolding mine… > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > “France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these > drawbacks it is a fine country” > —Mark Twain **comedian** > “I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one > behind me.” > — General George S. Patton **US commander in WW2** > > “Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your > accordion.” > –Norman Schwartzkopf **US commander in Desert Storm** > > “We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it.” > ---- Marge Simpson **FICTIONAL CHARACTER** > > “As far as I’m concerned, war always means failure” > —Jacques Chirac, President of France[b]French President\*\* > > “As far as France is concerned, you’re right.” > —Rush Limbaugh \*\* **confused by his website** \*\* > > “The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is > sitting in Paris sipping coffee.” > — Regis Philbin > > “The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any > better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. > True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why > this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking > large glasses of whiskey I don’t know.” > — P.J O’Rourke (1989) > > “You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the > 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but > doesn’t have the face for it.” > —John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona **really?** > “You know why the French don’t want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he > hates America, he loves mistresses and wears > a beret. He is French, people.” > –Conan O’Brien **a comedian? on an international debate? Next…** > > “I don’t know why people are surprised that France won’t help us get Saddam > out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn’t help us > get the Germans out of France!” > —Jay Leno\*\*…\*\* > > “The last time the French asked for ‘more proof’ it came marching into > Paris under a German flag.” > –David Letterman **Entertainmet person** > “The next time there is a war the loser has to keep France.” > –Anonymous Well, I’m sorry to say this, but (and this is IMHO), those opinions don’t mean squat. And are just that, OPINIONS. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/19 "2003-03-14T02:55:13Z")
Hey, if I can’t set my moral compass by Regis Philbin, then I’m lost. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194/20 "2003-03-14T02:58:36Z")
I have moral GPS. > [@](#): > > Do we hate the Polish for surrendering? No. After Warsaw was pounded to rubble, and the British and French sold out the Polish. That’s big of you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-guys-i-like-the-french/161194.md?page=2)