Planetfurry BBS

[Joshua Fox]

From the Telegraph in merry old England:

***

Europe unites in hatred of French
By Henry Samuel in Paris


Language, history, cooking and support for rival football teams still divide Europe. But when everything else fails, one glue binds the continent together: hatred of the French.

Typically, the French refuse to accept what arrogant, overbearing monsters they are.

But now after the publication of a survey of their neighbours' opinions of them at least they no longer have any excuse for not knowing how unpopular they are.

Why the French are the worst company on the planet, a wry take on France by two of its citizens, dredges up all the usual evidence against them. They are crazy drivers, strangers to customer service, obsessed by sex and food and devoid of a sense of humour.

But it doesn't stop there, boasting a breakdown, nation by nation, of what in the French irritates them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Britons described them as "chauvinists, stubborn, nannied and humourless". However, the French may be more shocked by the views of other nations.

For the Germans, the French are "pretentious, offhand and frivolous". The Dutch describe them as "agitated, talkative and shallow." The Spanish see them as "cold, distant, vain and impolite" and the Portuguese as "preaching". In Italy they comes across as "snobs, arrogant, flesh-loving, righteous and self-obsessed" and the Greeks find them "not very with it, egocentric bons vivants".

Interestingly, the Swedes consider them "disobedient, immoral, disorganised, neo-colonialist and dirty".

But the knockout punch to French pride came in the way the poll was conducted. People were not asked what they hated in the French, just what they thought of them.

"Interviewees were simply asked an open question - what five adjectives sum up the French," said Olivier Clodong, one of the study's two authors and a professor of social and political communication at the Ecole Superieur de Commerce, in Paris. "The answers were overwhelmingly negative."

According to Mr Clodong, the old adage that France is wonderful, it's just the French who are the problem, is shared across Europe.

"We are admired for our trains, the Airbus and Michelin tyres. But the buck stops there," he said.

Another section of the study deals with how the French see the rest of Europe.

"Believe it or not, the English and the French use almost exactly the same adjectives to describe each other - bar the word 'insular'," Mr Coldong said. "So the feelings are mutual."

***

Well, at least you guys all agreed on something

[Scifer]

My appologies to anyone this may offend. And I respect France is a remarkable country with some of the best solutions to economic problems here in the UK and across the world ...

... it would just be so much nicer without the french.

[Tygon]

My apologies to any French furs who might be around here and read this (I honestly don't know if we have any) but I fully and completely agree with the article. The only good thing about France is Disneyland.

[ICG]

I have a completely different impression.. probably because I am from Germany and have therefore a completely different point of view. I cannot confirm the 'German' statement either.

[Tygon]

[Danny]

Well, I fully agree with the article. And that´s not because I´m from Germany too.

[hikaru]

LOL... I can believe it.

Then again, each country tends to have its own attitudes on how life should be lived.

If you asked most europeans (an asians) how the felt about the US, you'd probably get the same group of comments, though not from the same sources.

If you stay away from the large cities in France, the people are actuall pretty friendly and not so arrogant. Parisians are the biggist assholes in the world, though, hands down. They're worse than anything you'd find in New York, Chicago, LA or even Dallas! (That last one is gonna get me in trouble, I know it. )

Cheers

[Sigurd Volsung]

A cousin of mine is interning at the American Embassy in Paris, he says the biggest problem with parisians, is that as a wholew they feel that if you don't speak french then your not worth their time or courtesy.

[Concolor]

Yep, that about sums up my impression of Paris. Nasty attitude, delivered with a generous side-order of smug.

On the other hand, all the rest of the country that I visited (North coast west of Cherbourg, Mediterranean bit east of Marseille, the city of Lyon -- loved it! -- and the countryside northeast of Limoges) was inhabited by friendly, helpful types who were nearly insane with joy that an American was willing and eager to try the local cuisine. Except for the ten hours that I spent in Paris, that was one of the most enjoyable weeks I ever spent.

[racky raccoon]

Ah the French


Bless them aye

[Typhun]

well, we have had god0knows how many wars with em.... and they lost most... >

[Mapper]

I can't make a judgement on the people, but their government and their military I can say lots of nasty things. As an allie I don't like have rifles leveled at me and my troops especially in the desert. Not allowing us to fly through their airspace to go after Kadofee(spell check later) back in the 80's still strikes a nerve. They are quick to critizise failure and just as fast to jump the band wagon after the success even though they were against it.

[Cateagle]

[Aslaug]

A two dimensional article at best.

I disagree that Europe is "uniting in hatred" against that particular nation. I for one felt like taking a drink in celebration when they voted "no" recently. The same went for the dutch...but do you read any articles about Europe uniting in hatred against them?

I don't hate the french any more than I hate the Greek, Italians, Spaniards, Englishmen, Germans or anyone else.

I think, in fact, that hate is a childishly overused word. It's like hearing two kids in the schoolyard declaring undying hatred for one another. Ten years later they don't even remember each other.

So...the french, if described by five words, would be described in negative ways all over Europe. Fine. Sure. You know what? I -believe- it.

Let's see what people say about the English if asked the same way? My guess is "Pompous, arrogant, stuck-up insular megalomaniacs".

Or the Swedes? Oh good Gods, don't start me on the Swedes. The one thing everyone in Scandinavia can agree on is that Sweden should be barred off from the rest of the world to save us from the Swedes. "bad haircuts" is probably the expression I hear the most.

Germans? Well, out of respect for my german friends, I shall kindly refrain from repeating the nonsense that is usually spread about Germans when they aren't present, and simply remind them that many people have sixty year long memories...even if they're only in their twenties.

Italians? Hmm...the words "Religiously intollerant, unintelligent, emotionally overblown pizzabakers" play a prominent part in many people's perception of them.

Danes like myself? Oh, we have too high thoughts of ourselves, we suffer from an insufferable case of "bessermachen" (and for those unfamiliar with the term, it means we think we can do everything better than everyone else), we're backwards and overly rural.

The lists go on and on.

This article is only proof of one thing. Namely that despite all shouts and calls for "European unity" and "Togetherness" or even the much vaunted "brotherhood", we all think the others are a bunch of retards who should spend more time listening to us. Wether "us" is "French", "Germans", "Englishmen", "Danes", "Greeks" or whatever else.

Wake up and smell the coffee please...

[ICG]