# What the f\*\*\* is up with this t-shirt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027 "2015-11-30T13:42:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/81 "2015-12-07T04:31:21Z")
I would guess it is the most iconic perfume bottle there is. And I don’t wear perfume either. ---
**Author:** ![inkspiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@inkspiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkspiller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/82 "2016-02-15T22:29:11Z")
Gotta admit with no obscenity… just saw that shirt today on a student. I, too, perplexed. She’s a 5th grader, so it’s useless thinking I’d get any enlightenment from there. So I’m thinking is this a pretty heavily veiled reference to Chanel, with the N+superscript o? Or is this a jab by some anti-French American xenophobe? Really, I just don’t know. Help? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/83 "2016-02-15T22:40:04Z")
> [@inkspiller](#): > > Gotta admit with no obscenity… just saw that shirt today on a student. I, too, perplexed. She’s a 5th grader, so it’s useless thinking I’d get any enlightenment from there. So I’m thinking is this a pretty heavily veiled reference to Chanel, with the N+superscript o? Or is this a jab by some anti-French American xenophobe? Really, I just don’t know. Help? Did you read the thread? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/84 "2016-02-15T22:52:06Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > … > Then the douchbaggery and intentional misunderstanding/misrepresentation that some people here are famous for began, and now there’s another “PC pileup” where everyone tries to prove that everyone else is a really stupid racist bigot who doesn’t understand anything and is just a big poppyhead and should kill themselves or at least go away and never come back… which is pretty much standard here in my experience. … But that’s the \*charm \*of the place, dontcha know. You can come in here with a perfectly innocent question posed in a neutral tone with no lit-up hot buttons that you can see and the next thing you know, your underwear (or knickers, if you’re a Brit) is hanging from the goalposts and you’re being beaten with rolled-up newspapers. Every time you click the “submit reply” button, you’re askin’ for it. It’s why _I_ keep coming back. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/85 "2016-02-17T01:39:59Z")
> [@inkspiller](#): > > Gotta admit with no obscenity… just saw that shirt today on a student. I, too, perplexed. She’s a 5th grader, so it’s useless thinking I’d get any enlightenment from there. So I’m thinking is this a pretty heavily veiled reference to Chanel, with the N+superscript o? Or is this a jab by some anti-French American xenophobe? Really, I just don’t know. Help? Apparently it’s a jab at the fashion industry, specifically Chanel, and it is utterly stupid for reasons I already mentioned. But what I really felt when I saw it and did not understand its “clever message” is that it is tasteless in light of recent events. I saw it literally 2 days after the Paris attacks and while it’s been pointed out that it is just an unfortunate coincidence, I think a store manager with some freakin’ decorum could have shelved them for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/86 "2016-02-17T01:59:20Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I saw it literally 2 days after the Paris attacks and while it’s been pointed out that it is just an unfortunate coincidence, I think a store manager with some freakin’ decorum could have shelved them for a bit. Ooh, are we back to outrage now? I thought you were over the rage. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/87 "2016-02-17T02:10:03Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Ooh, are we back to outrage now? I thought you were over the rage. Not rage, just responding to **inskspiller**. But, just out of curiosity, what’s it to you? I specifically stated that the (momentary, misdirected)“rage” had disappeared right about the time the “explanation” for the shirt was given. You seem to want to paint me as enraged, to what end, I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/88 "2016-02-17T02:21:16Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Not rage, just responding to **inskspiller**. But, just out of curiosity, what’s it to you? I specifically stated that the (momentary, misdirected)“rage” had disappeared right about the time the “explanation” for the shirt was given. You seem to want to paint me as enraged, to what end, I do not know. I’m not painting you any way, but from your posts in the thread it’s been clear that you enjoy searching for ways to get offended. You vacillated on just how offended based on learning what it meant (and also in the process becoming offended by the responses you got), and now a few months later you’re back to taking offense that they continued selling the shirts despite your delicate sensibilities. I just find that curious. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/89 "2016-02-17T03:40:39Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I’m not painting you any way, but from your posts in the thread it’s been clear that you enjoy searching for ways to get offended. You vacillated on just how offended based on learning what it meant (and also in the process becoming offended by the responses you got), and now a few months later you’re back to taking offense that they continued selling the shirts despite your delicate sensibilities. I just find that curious. Nope; that’s all your projection. ONE post - my initial post - made it clear that I saw something that felt wrong and I _asked_ for clarity because I doubted myself. There’s been nothing in this thread or any other that even slightly suggests that I “enjoy searching for ways to get offended”. I also didn’t _vacillate_ about anything. I asked once, clarified why I was asking, and accepted the explanations given, though it of course fell on deaf ears because people were too busy doing precisely what you’re doing now. I happened to come across this resurrected thread in which someone who also didn’t \*get \*the shirt questioned it and I stated my opinion, which stands. Your tone in your previous post very much indicates a certain amount of condescension and again, I don’t know why. If you’re just taking the piss for the fun of it, well, there’s a name for that. But kindly do not keep ascribing motives to me that only exist within your own mind. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/90 "2016-02-17T04:08:28Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Chanel joke? Are we not allowed to mock the pretentiousness of Haught Couture (no, not looking up spelling) because terrible people have done horrendous things in Paris? _Haute couture_. It means “high culture” in French. Now, what was your outrage about? ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/91 "2016-02-17T06:57:57Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > _Haute couture_. It means “high culture” in French. Now, what was your outrage about? Um… Actually, not. “Culture” in French is, well, _“culture”_. The term _“couture”_, in French, means (in this context) “fashion”. Literally it means something like “stitching”, but when modified by _“haute”_, the whole means “high-level fashion” (with a hint of “pretentious high-level fashion”). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027/92 "2016-02-17T10:49:14Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > _Haute couture_. It means “high culture” in French. Now, what was your outrage about? I’m not sure right now. I was off the Internet for a few days last week and do missed the instructions to be outraged at something about the halftime show at the Superbowl, and I have not yet received my marching orders for the next outrage. I suspect it will be something to do with something one of the candidates says. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-f-is-up-with-this-t-shirt/739027.md?page=4)