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\u201cBecause of Cubbie\u2019s support for our troops, we no longer serve<\/em> French fries. We now serve<\/em> freedom fries.\u201d
(Sign placed in the window of Cubbie\u2019s restaurant in Beaufort, North Carolina, 2002.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFor most English speakers, the French language\u2014and even the word French itself\u2014has always been associated with elegance and graceful living. Being able to pepper conversations with French says a lot about how cultured, educated, and sophisticated you are. Whether you\u2019re talking about fashion (haute couture<\/em>), food (nouvelle cuisine<\/em>), literature (roman \u00e0 clef<\/em>), theater (entr\u2019acte<\/em>), art (trompe l\u2019\u0153il<\/em>), or politics (coup d\u2019\u00c9tat<\/em>), French loanwords are everywhere. But this French polish hides a completely different reality that the Iraq war brought to light some fifteen years ago in the U.S.<\/p>\n
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A third-rate nation?<\/h3>\n
U.S. congressman Pete King once said that he and his fellow citizens had \u201cthe feeling that we\u2019ve been a public punching bag for too long by a third-rate nation like France and the only question is what we should do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. King said aloud what some of his fellow citizens must have been thinking deep down, if the chain reaction to France\u2019s refusing to get involved in the Iraq war is anything to go by. Bob Ney, the then-congressman from Ohio, ordered the word \u201cFrench\u201d stricken from all menus on Capitol Hill. In West Palm Beach, Florida, the owner of a bar poured all his French wine out onto the street and announced he would only serve wine \u201cfrom countries that support U.S. foreign policy.\u201d Boycotts were organized, barriers were built, debates grew heated.<\/p>\n
Yet chastising the French has been an actual part of the English language for centuries! Let\u2019s take a look:<\/p>\n
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When you think French, think suspicious<\/h3>\n
Describing something as \u201cFrench\u201d in English often denotes something suspicious or questionable.<\/p>\n
The entry for the word French in the Oxford English Dictionary<\/em> specifies that the adjective is used \u201cin various venereal disease names\u201d: French pox<\/em> (syphilis) in 1503, French marbles<\/em> (syphilitic testicles) in 1592, French mole<\/em> (skin rash) in 1607, French measles<\/em> (roseola) in 1612, amorous French aches<\/em> (lovesickness) in 1664, French goods<\/em> (venereal disease in general) in 1678, French complement<\/em> in 1688, and French gout<\/em> in 1700. Condoms have been called French letters<\/em> or French caps<\/em>.<\/p>\n
For many years, French crown<\/em> was used to describe bald spots caused by syphilis, to be frenchified<\/em> meant to contract a venereal disease, and French sores<\/em> were the physical markers of the disease.<\/p>\n
And who hasn\u2019t heard of French kissing<\/em>, an activity that all dignified young English ladies should avoid at all costs! In response to Peter King\u2019s remarks, a journalist for the Canadian newspaper National Post<\/em> joked\u2014at least we hope it was a joke\u2014that Americans should switch French kissing<\/em> for liberty licking<\/em> instead!<\/p>\n
At one time, people used the term French postcards<\/em> to describe pornographic images. An English woman who lived with a French man was described as French by injection<\/em>. And even today, when we swear, we excuse ourselves by saying pardon my French<\/em>.<\/p>\n
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When the French duck out\u2026<\/h3>\n
The expression to take French leave<\/em> also leaves a less-than-flattering impression. It is said to derive from the French custom of leaving a function without saying goodbye to the host. The expression gained currency after the Seven Years\u2019 War (1756\u20131763), which saw New France fall into English hands, when it was frequently used to describe a soldier who deserted his regiment.<\/p>\n
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\u2026the English get jealous<\/h3>\n
These insults aside, it\u2019s undeniable that English speakers view French as the language of love. Their tendency to associate the word French<\/em> with sexual activities is just one example. Howard Richler, a former columnist at the Montreal Gazette<\/em>, gives a more positive example with this romantic dialogue from the Woody Allen film Bananas<\/em>:<\/p>\n
\n
- Woody Allen: I love you, I love you.<\/li>\n
- Louise Lasser: Oh, say it in French! Oh, please, say it in French!<\/li>\n
- Woody: I don\u2019t know French.<\/li>\n
- Louise: Oh, please\u2026 please!<\/li>\n
- Woody: What about Hebrew?<\/li>\n
- Louise [disappointed]<\/em>: Oh.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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When you think French, think luxury<\/h3>\n
Even if there were many calls at the time to boycott French products in the U.S., French was still synonymous with luxury and sophistication: French cuisine<\/em>, French cuff<\/em>, French window<\/em>, French heel<\/em>, French horn<\/em>. Or products like fine wine, fine cheese, truffles, perfume, haute couture, and all the many other treasures that hail from the land of baguettes and berets. New York University scholar Tony Judt, who has written extensively on French culture, posits that for Americans, \u201cFrance stands for everything they like about Europe and feel insecure about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anglophones have always had a quintessential love-hate relationship with France and French people. The singer and American expat Josephine Baker summed it up nicely when she said, \u201cI like Frenchmen very much, because even when they insult you they do it so nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n
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But don\u2019t be fooled\u2014the French know how to defend themselves and can give as good as they get. French letters are referred to as capotes anglaises<\/em> (English caps) in French. Avoir ses anglais<\/em> (the English are visiting) is a slang way to say you have your period. And if a guest dares leave a party without saying goodbye to the host, the French don\u2019t hesitate to say that il a fil\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019anglaise<\/em> (he beat an English retreat)!<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For most English speakers, the French language\u2014and even the word French itself\u2014has always been associated with elegance and graceful living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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