this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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[–] [email protected] 137 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

The French deserve some respect. If you want to know what a true strike or protest looks like, look to the French.

[–] [email protected] 87 points 4 months ago (3 children)

More and more these days French disrespect feels like boomer shit. Look what the French did when the government came for their pensions. The industrial action within the transport sector alone.

I was visiting Paris during some of the aforementioned protest. They’re out and about (in numbers) and will gladly get out to protest when they feel it necessary. Plenty of other western countries could learn, a lot, from the French people.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I keep saying this and people look at me like I'm some kind of extremist

Like no dude I just want universal healthcare

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

universal healthcare

*me, looking at you like you're some sort of communist

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

I remember when Obama promised us that. Good times.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Look what the French did when the government came for their pensions.

For the record we did get it down from 65 to 64, but we still got +2 years.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I appreciate that the outcome may not have been what was strictly desired. The French populace still get off their arse and do more than complain on social media while effectively doing three fifths of fuck all. More than what can be said about some others, especially those who are inclined to make brain devoid white flag jokes.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

A lot of it now goes back to the Iraq war, when France refused to join the Coalition of the Willing and invade. Nearly constant derision of the French in the media for a decade will do that to people.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Even today, they just don't give a fuck about rules.

In Southern France there are speed cameras being set up everywhere, and they'll catch you for being even a few km's over. The locals (mostly rural) have responded by either torching them, encasing them in hay bales, painting over them, or chopping them down. The police keep putting them up, alongside cameras to watch the cameras, and the locals keep destroying them overnight.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Also true in the west, where I am, so I presume the same all over France.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Did you see the yellow jackets marching with their rolling barbecue fitted on the city’s tram line? Magnificent bastards.

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

So yeah why does the american/english don't do more research about origins and call everything french ?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

It's because deep frying was not very common in the U.S. Immersion in hot fat was considered a French style of cooking, so they're French style fried potatoes. I think "fries" instead of "frieds" is dialect that caught on nationally in the U.S. in the 70s.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, it never occurred to anyone ever to stick their tongues in each others mouths until it was documented in ancient India.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 months ago

Anon didn't say that it started in ancient India, just that the fact that it happened in ancient India proves that it didn't start in France

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

We generally attribute discoveries to whoever documented it first. It's almost laughable to attribute it to the French based on a kissing style that was widespread there in 1923. Surely people were doing it before then. Yet, the Americans and British found it so unique they referred to it as French kissing.

Perhaps it was common before ancient India, but then the question is, why didn't the ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Chinese, Romans, and Greek document on it then?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Arabic numerals came to Europe from India via Arabia. The Sine function does too, but it's name is garbled and doesn't mean anything.

Venetian blinds came from Persia via Venice.

Spanish Flu was everywhere, but everyone at the time was lying about it due to being at war, except for Spain.

Many First Nations peoples are known by what other peoples called them (often pejorative names) rather than their name for themselves.

Words usually aren't authoritative declarations of truth, but rather snapshots of what was a useful distinction to someone somewhere a some time. Did the French think their style of kissing was a unique cultural phenomenon? Will Skibidi be known about in 500 years? No one documents graffiti, was it "discovered" by Pompeii?

We live in a truely unique age, where nearly any question can have a relavent answer of some kind in moments. We can see people streaming everyday things from around the globe, or find the best research about what we know about ancient people's daily lives. Is any of this worth carving into a monument though? How many copies of an archeological journal are going to survive the ages vs copies of Game of Thrones? I'd say there are countless things about our lives we think are special to today that even prehistoric people did, it just isn't notable enought to build monuments to or copy manuscripts of.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

We barely document how we wipe our asses or shower because it's such a mundane, day to day thing.

Writing was limited, so I hypothesize that people would focus on important things like tax collections, kingly births or even that cunt Ea-Nasir. Less so on kissing or things they would find mundane.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Just have to triple check whether French revolution occured in French.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago

Which gives rise to the true founding father of Germany. Napoleon.

Without his restructuring of the HRE for management it would be even harder to unify later.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Britain is the land mass that includes England, Wales, and Scotland.

William the Conquerer was the first Norman king of England and never had power over Wales and he was mostly successful in gaining homage from King Malcolm III, but never king over the lands.

Edward I about two hundred years later almost pulls it off, but doesn't quite get a firm grip on Scotland. James I in the early 17th century holds the crown for each of the lands. In 1707 they formalize the relationship with a treaty.

So... No the French did not found Britain.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago

Also Normans were descendants of viking settlers. So French didn't technically fund England either (yes, I'm being pedantic for the sake of the joke).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (2 children)

You could, however, accurately say that a French family founded the modern British monarchy. That much is still true. The UK royal family can still trace its lineage directly to William the Conqueror.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago

It's not just the royal family, other descendants of the french conquerors are also on average wealthier than the descendants of those that had been conquered.

One pretty striking statistic: "Furthermore, Norman descendants also enjoy other privileges, including attendance at the best universities. In a recent study that examined the enrollment at Cambridge and Oxford over the last thousand years, it was revealed that at certain times, Norman names were 800% more common at Oxford than in the general population, and more recently, were at least twice as likely to found in that institution’s enrollment."

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/10/last-1000-years-families-owned-england/

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

The Normans were Vikings - the then Frankish King, Charles, gave them land in north France if they agreed to shut the fuck up and stop murdering everyone in sight. They become known as 'Northmen' which contracted to 'Norsemen' which contracted to 'Norman'.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

Nobody in France calls French fries or French toast "French". We're definitely happy to attribute the fries to our Belgian friends and nobody thinks something as ubiquitous as toasts could have a single inventor. I think those are Anglo-Saxon cultural elements.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (3 children)

No we are not attributing fries to the Belgian, fries are french. The Belgian improved on our invention and make the best fries, but Frenchs invented it.

Content warning, a lot of french: https://www.musee-gourmandise.be/fr/musee-gourmandise/articles-de-fond?view=article&id=132:la-veritable-histoire-de-la-frite&catid=77:articles-fond

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

Also here we call it "cafetière à piston" not french press.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

FIY: French toast is the english name for pain perdu.

Also probably not "invented" by the French, but no one thinks they invented simple toast.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (6 children)

Anglo-Saxon cultural elements

You did your best to stamp those out back in 1066

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 months ago (1 children)

> Britain was founded by the French

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago

Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon? The son of an Irish immigrant? He’s not the kind of guy who’d let facts get in the way of an opinion so we’re probably pretty solid saying that in front of him. If he did run his mouth, then I got your back, blud.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 months ago (6 children)

Belgium is kinda France tbh

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

The first step is admitting it

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It's almost like national borders are fake and peoples just blend into each other

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Wait what.. But. the.. Wall

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

A full revolution takes you back to where you started.

Also, cinema was invented by the French. Kind of cool IMO.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

To save anyone else the wiki trip

“Some authors consider the recipe for Aliter Dulcia (translated as 'Another sweet dish') included in the Apicius, a 1st-century CE Ancient Roman cuisine cookbook, "not very different" from modern French toast, although it does not involve eggs.[10][11]

In Le Viandier, culinary cookbook written around 1300, the French chef Guillaume Taillevent presented a recipe for tostées dorées[12] involving eggs and sugar.[13]”

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago (3 children)

When a dish with 3 ingredients is missing one ingredient, it's not the same dish.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

This is not the French claiming ownership of stuff, this is shitty naming on the part of Americans who thinks all european food is from France. Or who really wouldn't know the difference between Europe and France to begin with.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

The most elegant and refined food, fries.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

"France" comes from the "franks" who were considered Germans originally

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The French invented sex. Before then people would just sort of split into two small people who’d then have to grow back to full size, and it was very boring and not very je ne c’est sais quoi.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

Well, technically the French did not found Britain - they were Normans.

Who were the Normans? They were Scandinavian vikings who had been raiding France for decades. Eventually the French king decided to offer them lands (now called Normandy) in France if they promised to stop raiding and instead protect the French coast.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Meh, this is largely a debate over semantics since the mere notion of a "French people" wouldn't have made sense at the time. "Frenchness" isn't an ethnicity, it's a mix of many different peoples that mixed and intertwined over the years (celts, romans, germanic tribes, immigrants from all over Europe...) and that eventually were all brought together as subjects of the french kingdom.

Normans weren't "french" in the modern sense of the word, but then again very few people in what would later become modern France would have at that time : they all would have considered themselves "Provençal", or "Breton", or "Lorrain" who just happened to live in a Duchy that swore fealty to the king of France.

All things considered, William the Conqueror was a lord of the french kingdom, swore fealty to the king of France and spoke French, so he was no less (but no more, granted) French than any other of his peers. Whether you want to call him french is up to you but is largely an anachronism

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

More like "The French have good PR".

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Sounds like all those others want to be French.

Je ne suis pas Francais, but I want to be!

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