Frederic Rouvillois’ definitive study of manners through the ages in France weighs in at a crushing 550 pages.
It joins Nadine de Rothschild’s best-selling bible of politeness in offering advice to those in need of guidance on how to behave in that oxymoron, “polite French society”.
[…]
It teaches the “arts de vivre”, that uniquely French concept which encompasses everything from how to appreciate your wine and food, whether to eat your sorbet or ice-cream with a spoon or a fork, and if you should run past your grandmother on the right or the left side when fleeing from Germans.
OK, so I added that last part.
How to behave like a: “Cheese Eating surrender Monkey”(Homer Simpson Quote)
How to turn up your nose whenever your addressing those pesky alglophones!
Or how to raise the white flag right when the going gets tough!
Or how about learning to ignore those dastardly car burning immigrants!
I could go on forever with this..
Or like De Gaulle, how to hide under Churchill’s bed and still look down your nose at him.
(ww2)french war casualties: 562,000 total
seems pretty substantial to me. btw, i bet you wouldn’t suggest the french were cowards to the face of a french person, should you ever meet one. not likely though, the rest of the world isn’t exactly rushing to visit rural saskatchewan,are they?…
Is there anything in there about politeness to trolls commenting on blogs?
Dear troll,
Yes, I have told a French guy to his face that he and the society he comes from are cowards. I would also say the same to French citizen surrender monkey Dion. I’d love to say it to your face, regardless of whether you’re French or not – I’m sure you share the same yellow streak along with your politics.
Oh, and I live in downtown Toronto, not in the ‘rural’ sticks surrounding it.
It’s also apparent (and obviously for good reason) that “the world isn’t exactly rushing to visit” your blog.
Hey, joke, er, jeff,
Check this out about French Tourism (from France no less)
w3.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2004/08/tourist_trade_f.html#more
“THE tourist industry in France looks set to take a serious look at itself after visitor figures show a marked decline, especially amongst the French themselves.
Newspapers and television programmes are showing empty campsites and disconsolate hotel owners who are suffering from a drop in trade.”
jeff: (ww2)french war casualties: 562,000 total
Jeff makes a good point … cowardice has a price.
Given that they were being invaded by a genocidal, totalitarian power that is fairly close to the definition of evil, one would have expected that they would have died to the last man before accepting defeat.
Someone mentioned fighting on beaches, landing grounds, cities, hills, never surrendering, never giving up. Obviously wasn’t French.
You’ll note that only 50% of those deaths were military, and a significant percentage were from defending Algeria against the Brits and Americans, as well as Vichy forces fighting their “liberators”. The US lost 2x as many men fighting, and the Brits lost almost 2x as many military men. So yes, the French are cowardly scum and have always been cowardly, collaborationist scum, whether it be with the Germans, the Russians, or the Salafists. If you want to see how a real nation responds to ze Germans invading, look at the Soviet losses in WWII, where they lost nearly 11M soldiers ( almost 7% of the total population) as well as 11.5M civilians. Heck, Canada lost .4% of the population, just shy of France’s rate of military losses, in a war that was an ocean away and that never saw Germans even land on British soil.
A further small note, but it was Groundskeeper Willy who coined “Cheese eating surrender-monkeys”, not Homer.
When asked today, Dion said that his french citizenship has gone away as a problem for cdns. Seems like he has no plans to give it up. I believe it is simmering under the skin of many cdns and it will surprise him come an election. So, dions wants for Christmas is, ignore his dual citizenship, emission investments (another word for credits) a new plan for afganistan.
He doesn’t want an election (ha ha), a Harper majority, to clean up the corruption in the liberal party.
If the french canadians could justify not joining the canadian arm because “it6 is an anglo war”, then me thinks some 562,000 dead french must be insignificant even in the eyes of the french, like pee-air-true-dough!!
slow down on the french coward thing….french from france, the record speaks for itself….francos from quebec – 50/50…..in my 8 yrs regular army, i served with some damn fine francos….as well, i know from experience that them damn van doos are no cowards….broken nose #2 testifies to that…
Thanks Kingstonlad:
No need to diss our Canadian troops whichever of the 2 official languages they speak better.
I think the Liberals should keep their hands above the table as well, so we know they dont have their hands in the treasury.
Be thankful for small favors. At least we know she wasn’t a spy. Spies were well trained in all the manners and customs of the country they went to.
Although the French have a tendency to be pretentious, arrogant pricks, I think the “cowardly” aspect of their nation is a bit overplayed. In WWI the French had about 1.4 million killed and over 4.2 million injured, the highest per capita casualty rate of any of the combatant countries.
There were many factors for their lack lustre performance against the Germans in WWII, notably a memory of the horrific losses of the previous war, being completely unprepared for the new style of warfare that the Nazis unleashed on them, and also underlying was a desemination of socialist propaganda urging the soldiers not to fight (the Soviets were German allies at the time) all which resulted in rapid demoralization and capitulation. Bear in mind that the British Expeditionary Force was defeated just as quickly as the French military, so I don’t think “cowardice” is suitable explanation.
This mocking of the French, mostly by American right wingers (and their Canadian wannabes) is childish. So the French don’t want to join the US in the WOT. One could also argue that the Americans were “cowards” since they didn’t bother fighting in either WWI or WWII until the conflicts were half over.
france’s contribution to the war effort (WWII)
http://www.feldgrau.com/articles.php?ID=77
Not only France, ural. Many nations joined the Nazis when they were winning. It’s a part of history that many would like to forget now.
LOL !!!
geez Kate, all they did was set up a useless maginot line based on WW I fixed fortification concepts and then use periodic motorcycle dispatches to headquarters to run an army led by an 80 year old to start things off in 1939.
whodathunkit? and the ‘impenetrable’ ardennes. the thick forest with all those roads running thru, ya that one.
LOL !!!
right or left side that is rich !!!
I expect the Van Doos really appreciated Duceppe wanting to trigger an election so they would not be put in harm’s way in Afghanistan. (not)
“underlying was a desemination of socialist propaganda urging the soldiers not to fight (the Soviets were German allies at the time) all which resulted in rapid demoralization and capitulation”
Echoes of that exact same Soviet crap are still being mindlessly parroted today, in Parliament and in the Canadian media, long after the Soviets went into the dumpster.
Why is it that the americans are constantly accused and blamed for horrible things, (I am sure these haters blame Eve for eating the apple) past, present and future, but Germany gets off scott free for all the horror they unleased on the world, twice. If France had any spine they would put an end to the muslim violence in their country, and help the rest of the world send a message to those terrorists. I also think the VanDoos do not want to be considered cowards, and many in Que feel the same. Duceppe may unleash a lot of hatred toward the bloc if he puts forward his motion, saying Queberers and the VanDoos are cowards, and do not want to fight. That might not be his intention, but it is what us real cdns will think of them forever.
I am a Canadian with almost 100% French heritage and know the difference between the “French” and the country of France. Over the past 100 years France has behaved in a treacherous and self serving way. They deserve every bit of trashing they get. This is about their long history of dubious behavior including Vichy Collaboration, tiny resistance movement, food for oil corruption………….. not some a right wing smear campaign
I realize France may be your ideal socialist utopia with work police, militant farmers,12% unemployment and race riots it is certainly not mine. Even though I am of French Heritage I would take Britain and yes America as allies any day over France given their relative records over the past 100 years.
So go stuff your righteous indignation over the deserved criticism of France up your socialist croissant.
Whoops! post is meant for lberia.
Kate
I come from Flemish Belgium heritage. I was taught to run at the Germans. My Grandpa ate raw birds eggs as a kid during WW1. He continued to do so until his death at 72. As a boy he lit haystacks on fire to thwart the German cavalry.
The French get what they deserve…haught ferdomah.
Syncro
French politeness.
They should have plenty. They nrver use any.
sorry about the spelling. should read never use any.
That part about keeping one’s elbows on the table, and hands visible, is meant to show that they aren’t in your neighbour’s pocket. (Now- if we could only find a way to keep them out of the government till?)
As much as I enjoy this blog, I find the anti-French tone this post childish. Unfortunately it is not uncommon in Engish Canada. Whenever this kind of comment appears it immediately diminshes the credibility of the person making the comment, and makes him or her appear unintelligent and immature. My impression of SDA has changed and I will view all posts in the future in a different light. It is hard to create a good reputation and easy to destroy one.
My family history is replete with french and I can tell you ms kaufmann that I dont fell anything but a releif that the truth is finally being told. I have watched the french from quebec ruin a once great nation. I have watched as my family in quebec has disowned me because I dont belive in welfare and giving it all to a bunch of socialist (commie)scum!!!!
If you have a problem with how the rest of the country sees the surrender monkeys, TUFF.
Like in the game of Clue, it was Willy, in the classroom, teaching French, with a beret. With thick Lowlands accent he said, “Bonjour, you cheese-eatin’ surrender monkeys.”
Weren’t French-Canadians exempt from serving overseas in WWII unless they volunteered?
Pat patterson,
The Canadian Military that served in World War II was a volunteer army so anyone who didn’t volunteer was exempt by default so I am not sure what your point is. However, if you are trying to discredit French-Canadian service you are ignorant of the facts because there were many French Canadians who served in WWII from all over the country including Quebec. The Vandoos for example were well known for their exemplary service during the war.
The behavior of France during and after the war was dubious at best that I do not dispute. However, anyone that attempts to discredit any nationality that fought for Canada during war including those of German heritage is a fool.
Not only France, ural. Many nations joined the Nazis when they were winning. It’s a part of history that many would like to forget now.
Posted by: lberia at December 24, 2006 05:55 PM
Please explain which other countries formed a Nazi loving government volutarily as against countries that had German Nazi governments
JFYI; there’s a new peice out on true dough, were it goes into explaining why most FC did not (including pet)sing up for the war
and if the French french had opposed the invation of the rhineland by the germans, as hitler feared they might, the french would have defeated the germans then and there, and WW2 would not have happened as it did. The french do nothing policy was what embouldened the germans!!
BTW; I also have french in my back ground
pissedoff:
The governments of Slovakia, Albania, Humgary, Bulgaria, Romania and for a short time, Yugoslavia voluntarily collaborated with the Nazis.
But my point was more about the many people from occupied countries that served as part of the German military and the Waffen SS…not something to be proud of after the war.
My reading of Canadian conscription was that indeed the government, led by King, bent over backwards to accomodate the French-Canadians especially in light of the draft riots of WWI and the 76% vote against conscription in Quebec in 1943. There were certainly brave French-speaking units integrated into the Canadian army but never stand alone units of all French-speaking ranks and officers. The bulk of the so-called “Zombies” came from Quebec and stayed that way the entire war. A draft was instituted late in the war when the army but not the navy or air corps didn’t meet recruitment goals.
But it appears to me that French-speaking Canadians did not enlist in great naumbers, refused to “go active” and were not trusted enough for independent commands.
Also allied with Germany was Finland while Eire had a very active German Embassy which actually recruited a very few Irishmen to join the German military. While thousands of Irish, from both Eire and Ulster, enlisted in the Commonwealth forces.