112 grips about the French

In this time of Newsweek’s French-bashing (The Fall of France & Fall of France II: How a Cockerel Nation Became an Ostrich) we thought it could be useful to read (or re-read) 112 grips about the French before coming here!

This 112 stereotypes list was written in 1945 by the United States military authorities to enlisted personnel arriving in France after the Liberation. Set out in a question-and-answer format based, it was recently republished under the title “Nos amis les français” – Our friends the French – in France.

We selected a few commons gripes to help you deal with the French habits next time you come!

First thing first : “I’ll never love the French..” “I hate the French!”
You don’t have to love the French. You don’t have to hate them either. You might try to understand them.

The American writer tweeted it during the 2012 Oscars ceremony.

“The French aren’t friendly.”
The French are very polite; they are also more formal than we are about personal relationships. (So are the Chinese)
It’s hard to be friendly in a foreign language. It’s hard to be friendly when you’re hungry, cold, and have gone through six years of war – as the French have. 

“The French drink too much.”
The French think we do. You very rarely see a Frenchman drunk. They don’t go in for whiskey. They have never liked cocktails. They are a wine-drinking people: they have a right to be – French grapes and wines are among the best in the world.

“All the French want is a good time. That’s all they think about in Paris.”
If you judge the French by those you see on the Champs Elysees or in Montmartre, you are making the same mistake that was made by the tourist who visited the House of David and asked “Why don’t Americans shave?”

“French women are immoral.”
Which French women ? The immoral Frenchwomen are, of course, the easiest women for us to meet. That’s why we meet so many of them.

“The French don’t bathe.”
The French don’t bathe often enough. They can’t. They don’t have real soap. They they had no soap worthy of the name since 1940. The Germans took the soap, for four years. The French have a lower living standard than we in the United States. (So do the Poles, the Russians, the Greeks, the Yugoslavs, the Chinese, the Mexicans, the Hindus, the Turks, and most of the other peoples of the world.)

“You ride on the subway and the smell almost knocks you out, Garlic, sweat — and perfume!”
You smell garlic because the French, who are superb. cooks, use more of it than we do.
You smell sweat because the French must use a very poor ersatz soap – and don’t get enough of that.
You smell perfume because French women would rather smell of perfume than of an unwashedness which they dislike as much as you do. When you have no soap, perfume comes in mighty handy.

“Every time we go into a night club, we get soaked by these Frenchmen“.
Were you never soaked in a night club at home? Compare the prices in Paris night clubs to those in the night clubs you’ve visited in Miami or New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.
A G.I. comes out of a night club in the States and says, “A buck and half for a Scotch and soda! That place is a clip joint! The same G. I. comes out of a night club in Paris and says, “Ninety francs for a shot of cognac! That’s the French for you – they’re all robbers”!

“The French are gypping us.”
Some Frenchmen have certainly gypped some Americans. We remember the times we were gypped. We forget the number of times we were not. How many times were you treated fairly, honestly?

“France is a decadent nation.”
How does one measure decadence?
The Germans said, “Democraties (sic) are decadent”.

Even 70 years after, we hope it helped you understand why French do not bathe or why you are going to pay 15€ your Comospolitan!