http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/11/sprj.irq.fries/index.html
Oh dear.
It only took ninety-odd years for the owners of what are ludicrously known as Alsatians in Britain to begin to revert to the real name, German Shepherd dog, after this was changed in the post-1914 outburst of anti-German hysteria. But at least the Germans were officially the enemy.
The House of Saxe-Coburg is still calling itself the House of Windsor after it thought it had better dream up a new name for itself during the same outburst, and the husband of the present head of the household, Mrs Battenberg (that’s Queen Elizabeth to you), is a “Mountbatten” for the same reason. Oddly enough, the cake is still called a Battenberg cake.
I don’t think anyone in France is going to lose any sleep over the abolition of the term “French fries” which was unheard of anywhere in Europe until McDonald’s began to inflict it on the innocent rest of the world. Now they’re even using it in hick greasy spoon joints in the west of Ireland.
But “freedom fries”? Give us a break.
in most of Liverpool it’s still known as Russian slice.
Richard
I think the freedom fry [is that the name for what is received when a daisy cutter lands in your back yard??] topic was dealt with on this board, thanks to Bloomfield.
Readers of the Irish Times [few enough here I suppose] may have noticed the cartoon last saturday under the heading ‘US foreign policy: creating a healthier nation’, of the picket line outside a restaurant with signs like ‘Boycott the french fries’, ‘Hamburgers, Frankfurters, No to German peacenik stuff’ and ‘Turkey?. No thanks, not until they give us our bases’.
“Freedom Fries” thats a crazy name of for a chip! Sounds like a McDonalds promotion for the new StarWars film!
You hit the nail on the head about the Queen Rodger. Dont think the royal family can survive much longer, especially with the union hanging on by a thread!
We call it a Russian slice as well, not sure why though (maybe a secret plot by the royal family to hide their real identitys, so they live off of the back of the tax payer for a few more years) 
"People often ask what is the difference between an Alsatian and a German Shepherd Dog. The truth is, there is no difference. The original name was “Deutsche Schäferhund” and a direct translation is therefore “German Shepherd Dog”. However, when the first specimens of the breed were brought to England, immediately after WW1, the anti-German feeling precluded public acceptance. It was agreed that a new name was needed and, since the first puppies came from Alsace, a Province in France, on the border of Germany, the name Alsatian was coined. Without the German connotation, the breed soon became popular. . . . . . . . . On the lighter side, an Alsatian is a Frenchman - from the province of Alsace! "
They do indeed, but they also work very hard for it (I have a friend who worked with them behind the scenes for 3 months), and they also generate £10 of revenue for every £1 they cost, so if nothing else they’re a very sound business proposition for the country.
Now how will they change the name of this to give it a more Patriotic Theme 
We are in the longest running bear market in the history of the country, millions out of work, millions with out health insurance and the best we can come up with is “Freedom Fries”.
Does this not tell you that we are sending idiots to Congress! Now how will they change the name of this to give it a more Patriotic Theme
This “Patriotic Correctness” is really weird.
I am not going there Nickt mate. There is no place for kings and queens in modern day life!
Why should we have a head of state, that is self appointed. We live in a so called Democratic nation, so why are we subjects instead of Citzens?
Thank you, claudine, for starting yet another thread for a political topic on the whistle board. You have sucessfully opened another can of worms. 
Hey! (Or is is “eh”?!) how about those canadians?
It was announced today that Canada is now prepared to help the United States in its war against terrorism.. They have promised to commit 2 of their largest battleships, 6,000 armed troops and 60 fighter jets… However… after the exchange rate, that comes down to a canoe, 2 Mounties and a flying squirrel…
Must get moose and squirrel…
TD
No French were renamed in the transmission of this message…
A political statement was being made, however trite the method might seem. Did it do any good? Well, it got people talking anyway. Did it incline the French to support the American position on the matter? I doubt it. Does it hurt anything to call French fried potatoes “freedom fries”? I doubt it.
Old Name: French Cut Green Beans
New Name: Slivered Freedom Pods
Old Name: French Dip Sandwich
New Name: Soggy Submarine
Old Name: French Onion Soup
New Name: Patriot Broth
Old Name: French Bread
New Name: Liberty Loaf
Old Name: French Dressing
New Name: Star Spangled Salad Syrup
Old Name: French Onion Dip
New Name: Guar Gum Soy Product For Freedom Chips
Old Name: French Harp
New Name: Harmonica
Old Name: Durkee French Fried Onions
New Name: French’s Taste Toppers
Walden,
What shall we call the “French Tickler”? Ooh La La!
Mike
Does this not tell you that we are sending idiots to Congress!
Most likely, as with anything else that runs through Washington a lobbyist bought the “freedom Fry” name.
OF course we are talking about people who spend millions to get a job that only pays $200,000 or so… talk about dumb as a box of rocks..
Assuming they are in it for the money. There is more to life. I suspect most legislators are in it for the power and prestige.
You’re in troubled waters, here.
Plain French letters don’t work either.
Condom is no more patriotic : it’s the name of a French village which invented the, er… we call it “English coat”.
And it’s forbidden by the Pope anyway. He put it on the Index (of all places!) even before his, er, current condition.
And what about the french horn, the hamburger, the mayonnaise and the bretzel?
First, caf’s invented the deflavourizing machine (as aptly coined by Woody Allen, notorious pinko and France advocate).
Now, there’s a Washington DC brainswashed French Fry, called Liberty Fry? Ok, it was invented in Florida, but Florida seems now the trendsetter in the Union…
Well, better spread the news to Iraqis, because I’m afraid they’ll soon have an other understanding of what’s being “liberty-fried”.
Little to do with taters, and more like being kebabbed by a Mother-f***-of-all-bombs “surgical strike”…
“How do you dislike your eggs? --Liberty-fried…”
Now, how do we Frenchmen care about this “patriotic” debaptizing?
Well, I can’t speak for all my people, but personnally I do approve!
Why keep so unjustly associated with the greasiest of junk foods? Which btw appears to us as more Belgian than French in the origin. We never called it anything else than “frites” (fries), where proper English say “chips”.
Same for “French” toast, which btw we always called “lost bread”.
However, this lone meager measure falls short of real patriotism in the context. I’d call it meak, wishy-washy, boiled-dove style.
Here are my suggestions to carry on–carrion?–more boldly these courageous patriotic moves:
First of all–Big 1) Total ban of the good French wine imports to the US. It would have more patriotic sense. Both sides of the Atlantic. The prices keep crazier than Nasdaq’s in year 2000, and my cellar is getting more depleted than an American shell. Same effect: my red cells count is getting low. Most my compatriots feel the same scarcity, will approve the motion.
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Ban import of German cars. Well, all except Opel’s : these belong to GM ever since before 3rd Reich. :roll:
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Ask the caf’ and fast-food cholesterol moguls to call an Entrée something else more meaningful (in any language…). How’s about “main curse”?
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Why call a cook “Chef” ? Whistle if he’s French, clap in your hands (desert fashion) if he’s Muslim, else just Hail to the Chief.
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Call the dessert “sweet Desert” : anyway, it’s pronounced this way by most. Drop all this Gourmet bulls…ey naming.
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Stop naming Cabernet Sauvignon or Rosé the jug-size aluminum-capped grape prodly mixed in the US of A. Most of it can be proud it’s been forbidden the name of wine under French regulations… Let’s see: Englishmen drink a lot of “Bull’s blood” wino brand. There should be something along this line…
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Rename Paris, Illinois (pop. 4867 last time I visited…). What to call it? Bushgrad, to follow the world experts in periodically re-baptizing cities? No way: them Russians() follow France in UN, after all. So do Chinese(). Bushburgh? Sounds too Germanic, and they’re pinko muslim rogues too. Let’s settle for just apt and plain… Bush. Or Sticks.
- Some symbolic retaliation should be enacted. In the deli’s you’ll order a Buszcz soup, not a Borchtch anymore. Similarly, the old San-Franciscan “chinese” fortune-cookie is to be called Fortunate-Son Roulette.
Something should be done too about Bagdad, AZ, don’t you think? Even their (scarce) population should approve, they must get wary of being targeted by some dyslexic Strangelove fly-boy…
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Forbid the use of French-kiss. It’s drooly, unpatriotic; honest married people don’t do this in the street, and seldom home. Try good old patriotic hug, or NA Inuit nose-rubbing.
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Redefine Urologists and Neurologists as something less suspiciously European, like Peeskeepers and Dollarologists.
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Rename all Chinatowns. I don’t know–maybe AsianIntegrateTown, so as not to be confused with target-towns, or disintegrated Chinese embassies?
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Blackball the song Michelle by the Beatles. Tape a sticker on the boxes to read “Powell” instead: it works the same, musically.
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Investigate the strange connection between the pronounciation of Mr Chirac [pronounce She-raq] and Iraq. Slander a bit, then drop the case after immigration red-tapes him at JFK for un-American activities, just enough so he doesn’t vote in NYC…
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To sustain the psychological war effort, form a secret committee or hire PR consultants to collect, invent and spread anti-French jokes and distorted newsbits. The KGB used this trick with full success with its public opinion, against Ukrainians, then Jews, then Czeczens and many other minorities.
Oops, I’m probably quite late with this last suggestion…
When in Australia, the Barmy Army enjoy singing ‘God Save Your Gracious Queen’. Very funny, even to the majority of Australians who are republicans and who recently allowed themselves to be tricked into pretending otherwise.
TubeDude, you may call me Mrs Grinch.
Not to mention that wonderful French-named weapon, the bayonet, revered by DIs for its potential to develop “the killer instinct” rather than its practical use in battle.
But I’m straying from lexicological whimsy into issues of substance. I think Walden, as ever, has the right approach.
You’re in troubled waters, here.
Plain French letters don’t work either.
Condom is no more patriotic : it’s the name of a French village which invented the, er… we call it “English coat”.
Why “the English Coat” Zub??