Why do we hate the French?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Brillig

Arma virumque cano.

The book that we used had a watered down version of the Aeneid in it. Does that count?

SI

[Brillig]

Tidbit from the Chron. European survey shows that Americans aren't as despised as we think, but everyone hates the French

They like us - they really like us

Maybe we're not as ugly as we think. In a new poll, nearly two-thirds of American travelers said we're perceived more negatively in other countries than we were five years ago. But another poll commissioned by the same organization found a big surprise: In a survey of 1,500 European hotel managers, Americans were ranked second, behind the Japanese, as the world's best tourists.

In the poll, conducted in April by the online travel site Expedia's German branch, Americans were seen as the most likely to try to speak a foreign language and the most interested in sampling local food.

We came in third, behind the Japanese and British, as the "most polite" tourists, and third, behind the Japanese and Germans, as "best behaved." And - we're sure this has nothing to do with how the hotel managers view us - Americans were ranked far and away as the world's most generous tippers and biggest spenders.

On the other hand, Americans were seen, by an overwhelming margin, as the shabbiest dressers, the most likely to complain and the second noisiest. Who's louder? Only the Italians.

Some of the other findings: Russians were seen as the least polite travelers, followed by the Israelis and French. The stingiest tippers: the Germans, followed by the French and Israelis.

Italians, by far, were ranked as the best dressers, followed by the French and Spanish. In terms of slobby dressing, the British were a distant second to us, followed by the Germans.

Who's the most unwilling to try speaking in a foreign language? The French, the British and the Italians, in that order.

The Chinese are the most reluctant to sample foreign food, followed closely by - this is odd - the British, whose home cuisine is probably the world's most grievously mocked (a little unfairly, perhaps.)

And, finally, the overall award for "worst tourists in the world" goes to the French, with the Indians and Chinese taking home the silver and bronze, respectively.

[Groundhog]

From my experience over here in Australia, Americans are without a doubt the loudest. You can be sitting in one corner of an enormous foodcourt at the biggest shopping centre in Australia, filled with people of all ethnicities speaking every language known to man, yet still you'll be able to hear the voice of the sole tourist from New York sitting in the corner furthest from you.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

From my experience over here in Australia, Americans are without a doubt the loudest. You can be sitting in one corner of an enormous foodcourt at the biggest shopping centre in Australia, filled with people of all ethnicities speaking every language known to man, yet still you'll be able to hear the voice of the sole tourist from New York sitting in the corner furthest from you.

If he's by himself, I'd question his sanity, not his nationality.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

From my experience over here in Australia, Americans are without a doubt the loudest. You can be sitting in one corner of an enormous foodcourt at the biggest shopping centre in Australia, filled with people of all ethnicities speaking every language known to man, yet still you'll be able to hear the voice of the sole tourist from New York sitting in the corner furthest from you.

I bolded your explanation here.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

It is a relatively recent phenomenom, not sure when exactly it became fashionable in the US to dislike France. They were your allies in the revolution, without their assistance independence would have been virtually impossible, and for many years afterward when Britain was still America's biggest adversary in the region. Also, much of the US constitution and bill of rights was based on French political theory. All of the founding fathers, especially Jefferson and Paine, were heavily influenced by French Revolutionary politics and philosophy. Even as recent as the 1920s and 30s Paris was the place to be for American writers, jazz musicans and intellectuals. Plus they sold you half of your country in the Lousiana purchase and gifted the Statue of Liberty.

I expect that it all started going awry under De Gaulle. His decision to devolp an independent nuclear deterant and his insistence on not assisting the US in Vietnam seems to have soured things for the first time. More recently of the big three EU nations, France is the one which is most invested in the idea of the EU providing a couterweight to the US, and not just economically but also diplomatically. For Germany and the UK the EU is soley about economic and social co-operation for the betterment of Europe.

It's not that recent. The Iraq war gave it some more publicity, but the idea of mocking the French has been around here as long as I've been alive. Sure, they were allies in the revolution, but there was always the hope that France would do more to help us. Then shortly after, the XYZ Affair, I think, left a bad taste in people's mouth, and we were extremely close to a war with France in the 1790's. Then in the civil war, France supported the confederacy (though to a very small extent, IIRC).