# Why do many Americans hate the French? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189 "2014-02-12T21:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kaltkalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kaltkalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaltkalt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/21 "2014-02-13T01:59:55Z")
I always figured a big part of it was that to an english-speaking ear, the french language just sounds very effeminate. jeeeeh nehhh qua qua quahhhh… ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/22 "2014-02-13T02:10:06Z")
French pretentiousness has taken a hit lately. Here you’ve got a nation of supposed uber-sophisticates who sneer at prim American attitudes about sex. But when President Hollande’s girlfriend finds out he’s been two-timing her with an actress, she gets such an attack of the vapors she has to be hospitalized. You never saw Hillary on the fainting couch over this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/23 "2014-02-13T02:16:54Z")
Start a thread about the French and the haters will jump all over it. With such witty replies such as the “French don’t suck up enough to Americans”, they smell, and now :rolleyes: the coffee sucks. So… Americans hate French people because they don’t suck up to Americans? And with shows like Duck Dynasty you say French people smell?? And espresso sucks? Why are Americans so ignorant? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/24 "2014-02-13T02:21:47Z")
I haven’t encountered any real hatred of the French. It’s a meme. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/25 "2014-02-13T02:30:08Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Start a thread about the French and the haters will jump all over it. With such witty replies such as the “French don’t suck up enough to Americans”, they smell, and now :rolleyes: the coffee sucks. > > So… Americans hate French people because they don’t suck up to Americans? And with shows like Duck Dynasty you say French people smell?? And espresso sucks? > > Why are Americans so ignorant? Funny, in the thread I read, everybody is saying that only stupid people hate the French and are mocking their chauvinism. What thread are you reading? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/26 "2014-02-13T02:30:18Z")
> [@Oedipus\_Flex](#): > > Even if you don’t think that French people are assholes, play the devil’s advocate and say what arguments you’ve heard/seen > [@Lukeinva](#): > > Start a thread about the French and the haters will jump all over it. With such witty replies such as the “French don’t suck up enough to Americans”, they smell, and now :rolleyes: the coffee sucks. > > So… Americans hate French people because they don’t suck up to Americans? And with shows like Duck Dynasty you say French people smell?? And espresso sucks? > > Why are Americans so ignorant? Because the OP asked us to be? I gave a reason that I’ve heard and even put **Devil’s Advocate:** in my reply to make it obvious. ---
**Author:** ![kaltkalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kaltkalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaltkalt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/27 "2014-02-13T02:48:14Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > So… Americans hate French people because they don’t suck up to Americans? And with shows like Duck Dynasty you say French people smell?? And espresso sucks? > > Why are Americans so ignorant? It’s not a universal thing but I’ve heard it said that the french owe us for saving their asses from the nazis. They’re ungrateful… (not that I necessarily believe that - they helped us in the revolutionary war so at most we’re even). ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/28 "2014-02-13T02:59:54Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > “…Why are Americans so ignorant?..” > [@kaltkalt](#): > > "… but I’ve heard it said that the french owe us for saving their asses from the nazis. They’re ungrateful… > > (not that I necessarily believe that - they helped us in the revolutionary war so at most we’re even)…" Thanks for illustrating my point. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/29 "2014-02-13T05:25:18Z")
My post from the other thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10555986](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10555986) EVERYBODY hates France. > [@](#): > > The plain, unvarnished truth—which the whole political community does everything it can to hide—is that France has become one of the least popular countries on the planet. I have already mentioned its arrogance and vanity. To these should be added the way our rulers presume to lecture the entire world. Jacques Julliard, “Sur une déculotée,” Le Nouvel Observateur, July 19, 2001, after the poor reception to France’s offer to host the 2008 Olympics. Quoted in the book _Anti-Americanism_ by Jean-François Revel. That sums it up pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![kaltkalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kaltkalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaltkalt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/30 "2014-02-13T05:34:14Z")
When I hear France “bans” certain non-French (nearly always American English) words because they’re not french and thus rot french culture and identity from the inside, causing the French to make up their own word… that makes me dislike the french a bit. That’s such a lame, pathetic thing to do. We live in a multicultural world, saying a word borrowed from another language isn’t gonna destroy your culture. Of course, I believe all culture should be destroyed anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/31 "2014-02-13T06:54:03Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > My post from the other thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10555986](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10555986) > > EVERYBODY hates France. Yeah, I thought the English hated the French the most until I took my Spanish neighbour to a French restaurant. Boy, she ‘really’ hated the French. (To be fair though, I don’t think we English really hate the French, I think we just enjoy the rivalry. Oh and BTW, that whole ‘we saved your asses in WW2’ thing? That will always really piss off any of your so called Allies. You were bloody late). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/32 "2014-02-13T08:01:16Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > and now :rolleyes: the coffee sucks. Cite: [Why Is Coffee in France So Bad?](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/roads/2014/01/coffee_in_france_is_terrible_why_can_t_the_french_brew_a_good_cup_of_coffee.html), from Slate. > [@](#): > > PARIS—There is one thing the guidebooks, the Francophiles, and the blissed-out romantics never tell you: The coffee in France is lousy. > > Paris is a city of café culture, not a city of coffee culture. That may come as a shock to those who believe the sophisticated French palate extends across the entire food and beverage spectrum. But while the sommelier is a revered position and Paris continues to be a hub for the gastronomic elite, more often than not you’ll find the end of your meal rounded off with an overly bitter shot made from mediocre beans. > > I once had a friend from Portland, Ore., tell me about spending some time on the French-Italian border for work. “We crossed over to France to get our croissants and went back to get our coffee. One country can’t do coffee, and the other can’t do pastries; you would think that they could get together and work it out.” Mention the word coffee to anyone that likes caffeine and has spent time in France and you’ll immediately get an eye roll. It simply isn’t a French strong suit. For the record, I said that Paris was awesome and Parisians seemed like perfectly nice people (even the waiters were friendly, except for one unpleasant older woman at Angelina). It’s OK if there’s one thing they can’t do well. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/33 "2014-02-13T10:46:07Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > After the war DeGaulle sought to make France a third power and refused, unlike the British, to be a lapdog of the U.S. The British were never a lapdog to the US. Having a shared language, legal system and culture it’s natural that the two nations are going to think alike on many foreign policy issues. Being a good friend is a little different than being a lapdog. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/34 "2014-02-13T10:57:51Z")
I’ve never really found the coffee to be terrible in France (although in some hotels you get offered instant!) Coffee seems to be increasingly internationalised - at a bar in Paris or Marseille you get the same Illy coffee from the same machines as you do in Padua or Milan. You can’t get a decent cup of tea, of course, but that is true of pretty much everywhere beyond Dover harbour. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/35 "2014-02-13T10:58:11Z")
French foreign policy often seems to consist of “Whatever the US is for, we are against.” If we sign a treaty with a dictator, they bitch about his human rights record. If we try to overthrow a dictator, they sign a treaty with him. Whenever NATO deployed a new weapons system, French “students” would stage massive demonstrations to protest it. When the Warsaw Pact deployed a new weapons system, French “students” were silent. It often seemed as if we were fighting the Cold War alone, on behalf of people who wanted the Soviets to win. (To be fair, this happened all over Europe. But the TV cameras loved to cover Paris, so the French took the rap.) When some pretentious pseudo-intellectual expresses anti-American sentiment, it gets lots of media coverage. If anyone ever expresses pro-American sentiment, it gets ignored. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/36 "2014-02-13T11:04:25Z")
> [@kaltkalt](#): > > It’s not a universal thing but I’ve heard it said that the french owe us for saving their asses from the nazis. They’re ungrateful… Yeah, if it hadn’t been for us, they’d all be speakin’ German. > [@](#): > > (not that I necessarily believe that - they helped us in the revolutionary war so at most we’re even). Yeah, if it hadn’t been for them we’d all be speakin’, ummm, English, I guess… ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/37 "2014-02-13T11:39:59Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Cite: [Why Is Coffee in France So Bad?](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/roads/2014/01/coffee_in_france_is_terrible_why_can_t_the_french_brew_a_good_cup_of_coffee.html), from Slate. The article makes a good point about the uniformity brought by wholesalers, and the historical context of why robusta coffee became prevalent is interesting. However, I disagree with the premise. It’s a gross over-statement that coffee in France is terrible. That gigantic cup, filled to the brim with dark, scalding water you get served in North American doughnut chains? That’s terrible coffee. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/38 "2014-02-13T12:58:14Z")
Really the only argument in favor of being jerks to the French I have heard is that the French are jerks. Most often the French are specifically jerks to Americans. Like the anecdote from a friend who was in the US Army, stationed in Germany and fluent in German, who visited France with a friend who was fluent in French. He said the French all acted as if they couldn’t understand the friend speaking French, and also claimed not to speak English. He realized the French people didn’t realize they were together, so he came over as if to offer his help and asked “Sprechen ze Deutch?” The French folks responded in the affirmative, and understood enough English to be insulted when he said “Wouldn’t have a lot of choice about that if it wasn’t for us.” Which gets pretty well to the heart of it, I think. As the French Empire was crumbling, America was growing in influence. In important corners of the world where the locals used to turn to French diplomats and business men, increasingly the French were seeing those locals turn to some arrogant American who acted like he owned the place. WWII was just the icing on the resentment cake, as the US allied with England, who traditionally are jerks to the French, and many Americans treated the French as weak or useless. And many French resented having fallen so far that they needed our help. After all, America owed its existence to French help, and France had been a leading power in Europe, the only important part of the world, for centuries. It was the child becoming the caretaker of his parent, and that isn’t easy to accept. People in that position, with their power waning, often act like jerks to the new holders of that power. And often the new power holders are jerks back. Hopefully, they will all grow out of it. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/39 "2014-02-13T13:15:08Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Well, at least in recent times, anti-French sentiment in the US was largely driven by far-right annoyance that the French government refused to support the Bushite policy on Iraq. > > That was bad enough. But as events developed they should that the doubts and concerns of the French government were wholly justified, and that the French policy on Iraq had been completely correct. > > And that, of course, is unforgiveable. That was just the last iteration of something that goes back a lot further. Around 1988 I commented that France has so long enjoyed the privilege of remaining our friend while acting like our enemy that they seem to have forgotten that it **is** a privilege. That isn’t when it started, either, just when I became aware of world politics enough to notice. What I was referencing was that, when “Communist” was the word we used to identify our enemies, and we would back anybody who was “anti-communist” no matter how villainous, we kept using the word “socialist” to describe France when it seemed increasingly inaccurate. And they had this nasty tendency to be backing people we didn’t like, people who weren’t “anti-communist” enough for us. And France kept selling nuclear reactors to Iran (which Israel would then have to blow up). Stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189/40 "2014-02-13T13:41:18Z")
> [@kaltkalt](#): > > When I hear France “bans” certain non-French (nearly always American English) words because they’re not french and thus rot french culture and identity from the inside, causing the French to make up their own word… that makes me dislike the french a bit. That’s such a lame, pathetic thing to do. We live in a multicultural world, saying a word borrowed from another language isn’t gonna destroy your culture. Of course, I believe all culture should be destroyed anyway. I can see why you hate the French. Apparently their country is just lousy with culture. Our Natural Science museum has a show of the world’s first known painters–[and they were French](http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=651&Itemid=683)! I’ve never been there, alas. But I don’t really know anybody who hates the French. My father avoided a German POW camp because of the French who rescued him after his B-17 crashed. (Had to find out the story second hand, since he didn’t survive the Cold War.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-americans-hate-the-french/681189.md?page=3)