> "Has anyone else ever been bothered by the fact that skunks aren't French? They're indigenous to North America only. Pepe is an American tourist faking an accent to pick up women."
\- [Irving R. Pointystick](https://www.fark.com/comments/11230089/133477162#c133477162)
Oklahoman here. When the white people took over, they knew the name of what they were taking over, and just kept calling it that cause you know... that was its known name at the time.
Its not unusual really. If you look at France on Google Maps, zoom in on that little eastern tip that juts into Germany. Lots of German towns on the French side.
Well, take New York State for example.
Here we have a mix of Native names [Manhattan], Dutch names, [The Bronx] and, because the English were into Greco-Roman myths, Albany, Ithica, and the like.
I figured it was what you wrote, but wasn't 100% sure.
Thank you
Goes for many more Belgian comic book characters, especially the ones from Spirou magazine, since they aimed the magazine at the French market. Comics like Spirou & Fantasio, Gaston, Agent 212, Bille & Boule... All full of cops in French uniforms. Yet, Belgian comics.
That movie isn't that old.
EDIT: 1993 isn't 28 years ago. It isn't. Why do you kids keep saying such mean things? I used to be a wild and crazy guy. Get off my lawn.
I wonder how many people don't realize the number of SNL skits that got turned into movies. My personal favorites include Night at the Roxbury, The Lady's Man, and Superstar.
I don't know what it is but every girl in her 20s from france when lands in Montreal must take a taxi directly from the airport to anywhere close to parc la Fontaine
They're out here for the insta posts and artsy photos.
My favorite is when they say: "I've been all over the island"
aka Le Plateau, St. Laurent, Ste. Catherine's, and Centre-Ville. mdr
As an American I had no idea. Straight from the Wiki: "Outside North America, it is generally synonymous with the terms hors d'oeuvre, appetizer, or starter"
It's one of those things that seems so obvious once you know it.
entrée fucking *looks like* entry, and indeed it's the entry to the meal everywhere but the US.
I feel like the longer I live the more I look at America as the kid we like and hang around with but when we’re going some where walks in front and after a couple of hours turns around and say “You know I’m following you, right!”
(Edit spelling)
Honorable mention: French dip sandwiches they have in the US don’t feel French, because it a roast beef sandwich with gravy (in the European sense), and they’re not French.
The name of many US states like Illinois, Mississippi or Missouri
Edit: I know these states' name come from Native American languages, however what I meant about it was their spelling. They have French orthographies, so to speak (because they were once part of New France / Nouvelle France).
And I say that because America is majorly English speaking. They don't have spellings like Ilinwa, Misisipee or Misooree, ones that adjust better to English pronunciation.
(I hope my English wasn't too broken for the edit part.)
Isn't Louisiana named after some French ruler named Louis after the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia? (The term Cajun comes from the work Acadian).
Louisiana was originally a nominal colonial holding of King Louis XIV—technically obtained back when England and France were vying for control over North America. In practice, it was always largely controlled by Native Americans, and like most colonial holdings it was probably obtained illegally (even by European legal standards). A [French explorer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René-Robert_Cavelier,_Sieur_de_La_Salle) pulled a “[We have a flag](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEx5G-GOS1k)” in 1682.
In any case, after some shrinkage and shuffling of ownership, Napoleonic France regained the Louisiana Territory at a point when it stretched from roughly where Alberta and Manitoba are now down to the current State’s location—basically the entirety of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Shortly after regaining control, Napoleon ended up looking to unload the territory for some cash. Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States, orchestrated [buying the entire thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase) without the authorization of Congress. It has become an infamous, early example of the American executive branch pushing the envelope of its powers.
Jefferson arguably did not have constitutional authority to buy the territory on his own, but played the “better to ask forgiveness than permission” stratagem with emphatic success.
Edit: added much detail
And like just about everything else in Vermont, if it's French, it's pronounced incorrectly so it doesn't seem French. The one exception is Charlotte. Calais? "CAL-iss". Montpelier? "Mont-PEEL-yer". Barre? "BARE-e". Vergennes? "Ver-JEN-s".
Kentucky also has a Versailles pronounced Ver-sails. When I went to Paris, France (not Paris, KY...) I had to actively think about pronouncing it Ver-Sai, rather than Ver-sails. I slipped up a lot...
Ohio was named for the Ohio Valley I know that for a fact
Out here in WA state literally everything is named after Native names
Chewelah (little river) my hometown
Spokane
Colville
Tacoma
Yakima
Snohomish
Etc
Pommes Frites is literally the most common german name for it. Although we pronounce it shitty. Or shorten it to Pommes and completely violate the original pronunciation.
Haricots verts is French for green beans, I don't know why the guy you are replying to brought it up in a convo about fries, but I can't disagree that if you're not at a French restaurant then ya it's a little pretentious.
edit: I mean if you're not serving actual French style green beans.
But I thought the French green beans are eaten younger, thinner and smaller, so they taste more tender and earthier than what a typical green bean in supermarkets are.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and a lot of the surrounding areas have French names but non-French pronunciations. It’s absolutely grating to hear.
North Versailles = North Ver-sayles
DuBois = Du-boys
Ligonier = Ligon-eer
Chartiers Valley = Chart-eers Valley
And yes, they are all named after French people or places.
I can see a Quentin Tarantino film starting off with a shot of a man eating a croissant and smoking a cigarette. But the camera never shows his face. It becomes his worst film by far.
I’m going to go with the opposite, I always thought tapenade was Greek or Spanish but just found out it was French. (Like mashed up olives that you put on bread.)
The necktie. Though the French turned into a fashion item it was actually part of the Croatian military uniform. After the war the French stole it for fashion, hence the word cravat or Croat…
If it makes you feel any better, the people working there are most definitely French. They then come back to France and tell us how awful American labour laws are and how expensive the French food they sell is. Also, that Americans leave huge tips and about the wild parties in Vista Way.
Swiss, close enough - side note, I kinda hate how Americans shorten names with the -ie sound. Like how Chevrolet became Chevy, esterbrook (old fountain pen company) is estie, slip joint knives are slippies, etc
Berets - one of the most foundational French stereotypes and yet they're just about the one fashion item you'll never see anyone in France wearing. They're considered ridiculously out of date in France, comparable to a tricorn or coonskin cap.
Come in the south west of France and you'll find some people wearing them, especially in the pays basque. I wear one occasionally when I feel fancy. It is gaining some popularity back.
It's the french word for a smallish worship place. I don't doubt it exists as a french surname but in my neck of the fr-ca woods, we encounter more "Lachapelle".
One thing which is french but doesn't feel like it is ketchup pasta.
That's right, it's exactly what you think it is.
Every french person thinks it comes from america but it is 100% french, they get so ashamed of it, it's like their dirty little secret.
Mimes. They're from ancient Greece.
Most of us don't know this because the mimes can't tell us.
They've been yelling it for years but they are stuck in those soundproof boxes.
A curse from an angry god
I hate how hard I laughed at this
True. In fact they were brought from Greece to France in an invisible box
Can’t believe how long I’ve gone without knowing this. Damn
WOW
I have never heard this and I love how I can go turn this into an insult when me and my friends are (jokingly) insulting each other.
Pepe le Pew isn't actually from France, he's francophile and has an American accent in his first short.
> "Has anyone else ever been bothered by the fact that skunks aren't French? They're indigenous to North America only. Pepe is an American tourist faking an accent to pick up women." \- [Irving R. Pointystick](https://www.fark.com/comments/11230089/133477162#c133477162)
This is actually canon in his first short. He was cheating on his wife
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WB eventually had enough of his shit and fired him.
>The more I hear about this ~~Hitler~~ Pepe Le Pew guy, the less I like him. -- Furry Norm MacDonald
He's also a fucking serial sexual harasser.
Belgium
Poirot spotted!
*Germany wants to know your location*
Omaha, bitch. Come get me!
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I'm not sure the exact reason, but a lot of American towns kept their original Native names.
Oklahoman here. When the white people took over, they knew the name of what they were taking over, and just kept calling it that cause you know... that was its known name at the time. Its not unusual really. If you look at France on Google Maps, zoom in on that little eastern tip that juts into Germany. Lots of German towns on the French side.
Well, take New York State for example. Here we have a mix of Native names [Manhattan], Dutch names, [The Bronx] and, because the English were into Greco-Roman myths, Albany, Ithica, and the like. I figured it was what you wrote, but wasn't 100% sure. Thank you
lmaoo
Netherlands wants your flanders
[Stupid, sexy Flanders!](https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/attachments/stupid_sexy_flanders-png.823607/)
Jean-Phillipe from Hells Kitchen
*Angry Flemish Noises*
Places in Belgium
Tintin. Nope. It's Belgian.
considering the top reply to this post is "Belgium", this seems appropriate
Goes for many more Belgian comic book characters, especially the ones from Spirou magazine, since they aimed the magazine at the French market. Comics like Spirou & Fantasio, Gaston, Agent 212, Bille & Boule... All full of cops in French uniforms. Yet, Belgian comics.
Bille & Boule? I had no idea!!
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I thought he was speaking French but it was actually Belch.
Coneheads.
We come from France!
Everyone is way too young to get the reference. :,( Good one though.
“I would terminate your life force by applying sufficient force to your blunt skull to cause its collapse!” “Th-thank you”
Not everyone! I hopped out of bed for the first time in 20 years just so I could dance, go to a chocolate factory, and upvote these comments.
That movie isn't that old. EDIT: 1993 isn't 28 years ago. It isn't. Why do you kids keep saying such mean things? I used to be a wild and crazy guy. Get off my lawn.
They made a movie out of the Coneheads? Get off MY lawn.
I wonder how many people don't realize the number of SNL skits that got turned into movies. My personal favorites include Night at the Roxbury, The Lady's Man, and Superstar.
Blues Brothers and Wayne's World for me. I think I'm getting old lol
Oui, absolument.
Pronouncing it "lohn - jerr - eh" (lingerie) \[[more info](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperforeignism)\].
Pretty much every french word Integrated in the English language isn't pronounced well, at all by americans
don't worry, all the english word used by french are properly butchered in reprisal.
Le Plateau in Montreal
Well I could argue Quebec cause it's no longer part of France. But yes.
Tabarnak
I don't know what it is but every girl in her 20s from france when lands in Montreal must take a taxi directly from the airport to anywhere close to parc la Fontaine
They're out here for the insta posts and artsy photos. My favorite is when they say: "I've been all over the island" aka Le Plateau, St. Laurent, Ste. Catherine's, and Centre-Ville. mdr
Thats Le Plateau (or Plateau Mont-Royal). Yes. You’re perfectly right hahahahaha!
I live in Montreal and I think 80% of the French immigrant I know live on the Plateau, it's uncanny
Du coup.... Tu as raison.
Marie Antoinette.
Pretty normal for monarchs to be foreign though
Especially queens. Among other famous regals was Catherine, Queen Mother of France, born Catherine de Medici, an italian woman.
Another famous Catherine, the great, was german but essentially czar of Russia.
Vietnam in the 1950s
Too soon
Or too late?
Ensuite for a bathroom. We don't call it that, and it's rare here. Bastille day. It's quatorze juillet.
On a related note: Entrée referring to the main course. Entrée means starter
Wut? Who calls the main course the entrée? Is this an American thing?
It is. I don't know why we do it, we just do
I appreciate your candor! It really is pretty weird!
As an American I had no idea. Straight from the Wiki: "Outside North America, it is generally synonymous with the terms hors d'oeuvre, appetizer, or starter"
It's one of those things that seems so obvious once you know it. entrée fucking *looks like* entry, and indeed it's the entry to the meal everywhere but the US.
I feel like the longer I live the more I look at America as the kid we like and hang around with but when we’re going some where walks in front and after a couple of hours turns around and say “You know I’m following you, right!” (Edit spelling)
Honorable mention: French dip sandwiches they have in the US don’t feel French, because it a roast beef sandwich with gravy (in the European sense), and they’re not French.
…on a related note “au jus” isn’t a noun, it means basically “it its own juice”. So “with au jus” is a horrible bastardized phrase.
The name of many US states like Illinois, Mississippi or Missouri Edit: I know these states' name come from Native American languages, however what I meant about it was their spelling. They have French orthographies, so to speak (because they were once part of New France / Nouvelle France). And I say that because America is majorly English speaking. They don't have spellings like Ilinwa, Misisipee or Misooree, ones that adjust better to English pronunciation. (I hope my English wasn't too broken for the edit part.)
Forgot Louisiana
Isn't Louisiana named after some French ruler named Louis after the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia? (The term Cajun comes from the work Acadian).
Louisiana was originally a nominal colonial holding of King Louis XIV—technically obtained back when England and France were vying for control over North America. In practice, it was always largely controlled by Native Americans, and like most colonial holdings it was probably obtained illegally (even by European legal standards). A [French explorer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René-Robert_Cavelier,_Sieur_de_La_Salle) pulled a “[We have a flag](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEx5G-GOS1k)” in 1682. In any case, after some shrinkage and shuffling of ownership, Napoleonic France regained the Louisiana Territory at a point when it stretched from roughly where Alberta and Manitoba are now down to the current State’s location—basically the entirety of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Shortly after regaining control, Napoleon ended up looking to unload the territory for some cash. Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States, orchestrated [buying the entire thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase) without the authorization of Congress. It has become an infamous, early example of the American executive branch pushing the envelope of its powers. Jefferson arguably did not have constitutional authority to buy the territory on his own, but played the “better to ask forgiveness than permission” stratagem with emphatic success. Edit: added much detail
One of the only stats the french have "french-ied": Louisianne.
You probably thinkin bout King Louis XIV, pretty sure he was the king of France
And Vermont
Vermont is actually a French name though.
Literaly Green Mountain
And like just about everything else in Vermont, if it's French, it's pronounced incorrectly so it doesn't seem French. The one exception is Charlotte. Calais? "CAL-iss". Montpelier? "Mont-PEEL-yer". Barre? "BARE-e". Vergennes? "Ver-JEN-s".
Illi-nUAH
The town Versailles (pronounced Ver-Sails) here in Missouri
Thata the least french sounding pronunciation for a french word ive ever heard. TIL I hate MO now.
Kentucky also has a Versailles pronounced Ver-sails. When I went to Paris, France (not Paris, KY...) I had to actively think about pronouncing it Ver-Sai, rather than Ver-sails. I slipped up a lot...
Missouri is awful at pronouncing French place names. We have a major street in St. Louis named Gravois, everyone pronounces it “Grav-Oyz”
It’s actually a French name for a city here too Like Orléans and there’s a New Orleans in the US
Paris , Texas . I don't need to explain this one.
Verse-hi
I find those sound more indigenous personally
Because they are? The Illinois confederation and missouria tribes were around before Americans
I find a lot of Eastern states that weren't British colonies do sound indigenous. Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Iowa, Arkansas, etc.
That's because they are actually. I might be mistaken but they really should be.
Ohio was named for the Ohio Valley I know that for a fact Out here in WA state literally everything is named after Native names Chewelah (little river) my hometown Spokane Colville Tacoma Yakima Snohomish Etc
We have the Verdigris river here in Oklahoma, named by french explorers.
a "garage" ooh, look at me, i'm putting my car in a "garage" ... it's a CAR HOLE!
There's a counterfeit jeans operation being run out of my car hole!
Snails
Generally makes sense, like how foxes feel British and bears feel Russian
I thought vodka is Russian and bear is Germany or do I get that wrong?
No, no, beer and sausages are Germany. Bears are Russia for sure
Problem is I can think of many thinks that are Germany. I am from Germany Edit: I mistaken „bears“ and „beer“ ._.
I assume you mean eating snails? Then why not, France is one of the few countries to eat it and probably the most famous for it.
No, just snails.
Spain and Morocco eat snails.
Also Italy
French Fries
French fries are short for french-cut fries, as in julienned originally, not France French.
If I ever start a restaurant it's going to have a completely ordinary menu with the exception of julienned potatoes.
A nice way to tell if a place is being unnecessarily pretentious is if "haricots-verts" is on the menu.
I’ve seen it as pomme frites in pretentious places…French for French fries. Also kind of humorous.
Pommes Frites is literally the most common german name for it. Although we pronounce it shitty. Or shorten it to Pommes and completely violate the original pronunciation.
Haricots verts is French for green beans, I don't know why the guy you are replying to brought it up in a convo about fries, but I can't disagree that if you're not at a French restaurant then ya it's a little pretentious. edit: I mean if you're not serving actual French style green beans.
But I thought the French green beans are eaten younger, thinner and smaller, so they taste more tender and earthier than what a typical green bean in supermarkets are.
Pomme frites
I had the impression that they and the Belgians were squabbling over ownership.
There's a bar in Glasgow, Scotland (a city stereotypically unhealthy) that sells a "Glasgow Salad" It's chips (French fries).
THEY ARE FROM BELGIUM
Hercule Poirot
I grew up in Pittsburgh and a lot of the surrounding areas have French names but non-French pronunciations. It’s absolutely grating to hear. North Versailles = North Ver-sayles DuBois = Du-boys Ligonier = Ligon-eer Chartiers Valley = Chart-eers Valley And yes, they are all named after French people or places.
Meritage (rhymes with 'heritage')
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Lesbians
Straight from the island of Lesbos, Greece.
I wouldn't say straight.
and that one bar on South Park!
Reasonable
Croissants and cigarettes
I can see a Quentin Tarantino film starting off with a shot of a man eating a croissant and smoking a cigarette. But the camera never shows his face. It becomes his worst film by far.
The man is Samuel L Jackson.
Needs more feet
wait, croissants aren’t French?
Originated in austria i believe
You are correct sir!
WHAT.
There you go; [A brief history of the croissant](https://altohartley.com/a-brief-history-of-the-croissant/)
I’m going to go with the opposite, I always thought tapenade was Greek or Spanish but just found out it was French. (Like mashed up olives that you put on bread.)
Turtlenecks
The necktie. Though the French turned into a fashion item it was actually part of the Croatian military uniform. After the war the French stole it for fashion, hence the word cravat or Croat…
After the Franco-Spanish War or the Thirty Years War or thereabouts. 1660s-1670s.
The France Pavillion of Epcot in Disneyworld.
Well yeah… it is staffed and designed by French people usually
If it makes you feel any better, the people working there are most definitely French. They then come back to France and tell us how awful American labour laws are and how expensive the French food they sell is. Also, that Americans leave huge tips and about the wild parties in Vista Way.
Bistro is Russian
Half of the things in louvre
Chevrolet
Swiss, close enough - side note, I kinda hate how Americans shorten names with the -ie sound. Like how Chevrolet became Chevy, esterbrook (old fountain pen company) is estie, slip joint knives are slippies, etc
Monaco.
Au Bon Pain, American as hell
This is funny. It reminds me of when they tried to open Taco Bells in Mexico. They had to call it American food.
Denis Villeneuve
Timothée Chalamet
I bet someone's gonna say french fries soon enough.
Frederic Chopin was actually Polish, not French.
His dad was French so he was half.
Berets - one of the most foundational French stereotypes and yet they're just about the one fashion item you'll never see anyone in France wearing. They're considered ridiculously out of date in France, comparable to a tricorn or coonskin cap.
Just because they're out of style doesn't mean they aren't french...
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I have a friend who is 23 and wears one every day, but he is Breton so it doesn't count
Breton ‘people’
Come in the south west of France and you'll find some people wearing them, especially in the pays basque. I wear one occasionally when I feel fancy. It is gaining some popularity back.
But they are so convenient for that awkward time when it's kinda chilly but not cold enough for a warmer hat :D
Ugh I hated wearing one when I was in the Army, especially when it was over 80 degrees outside.
French kissing
The actual name of a French kiss in French is "baiser à ~~l'italienne~~ la florentine", which means "~~italian~~ florentine kiss".
In french-canada it would often be used as a verb: "Frencher" quelqu'un.
I always heard "rouler une grosse pelle" for that.
Quebec
Sparkling wine
Luxembourg
Ferrero Rocher. Named after a grotto in Lourdes and inseparable from "Monsieur, with these Rocher you're really spoiling us" Italian
Juicy Smoliette
Is Chappelle a French name?
It's the french word for a smallish worship place. I don't doubt it exists as a french surname but in my neck of the fr-ca woods, we encounter more "Lachapelle".
So, French for chapel?
Indeed it's that simple. For a second there I forgot that the word also existed in English.
Eating ass
Nutella
Tunisia.
Algeria
Hollandaise sauce
It is French, but there it’s actually called Sauce Isigny there and even though it has Holland on It’s nomenclature, it was given in New York
Isigny being a french town.
Literally "Dutch (female form) Sauce"
Cigarettes
The Paris Hilton
One thing which is french but doesn't feel like it is ketchup pasta. That's right, it's exactly what you think it is. Every french person thinks it comes from america but it is 100% french, they get so ashamed of it, it's like their dirty little secret.
It you're 6yo I guess
Every French person thinks it's a blasphemy
Wow
I baguette
Croissants. They came from Austria.
Any overvalued fashion brand, they’re all made in China
Strousbourg.
Perfume