The French Are Not Loved

A niece of ours is a Franophile. I think that’s safe to say. She’s in college studying design, and France is one of the world’s leading centers of fashion. We can all agree to that.

I think most of us can also agree that the French are otherwise not particularly loved around the world, almost as much as Americans. We’re hated because we’re strong and generous, and not always quite sensitive enough to use that strength and generosity wisely, in the opinion of some in the world. The French are hated because, well . . .

I’ll let this article from the UK’s Telegraph[*1] say it:

“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.”

Words used by other Europeans to describe the French include:
stubborn
humorless
pretentious
agitated
shallow
cold
impolite
preaching
flesh-loving
egocentric
immoral
dirty

Yikes. Be careful what you ask for, eh?