1/14 Related question to the French question below. Why do Americans
continuously kiss up to the french? French fashion, french food,
are always "in". And paris is like the #1 tourist city in Europe
for americans. Even the language. Americans who speak french think
they're superior than americans who speak spanish.
\_ You are a barely literate moron. --aaron
\_ Marquis de Lafayette. Also most people who speak
french also know how to READ french and perhaps
have read the works of men like Dumas, Moliere,
hack, about the level of _/
sydney sheldon. (ref.
star trek)
Voltaire, Hugo, Rousseau, Decartes etc.
\_ btw proust is likely the greatest argument
for being able to read french. not to
mention baudelaire, apollinaire, etc.
As far as french fashion is concerned, have you
ever been to a Hermes shop?
\_ so your claim is that the spanish literature tradition
is inferior to the french one? by extension, if there
is a perception that people who speak language x is
less cultured than those who speak french, then the
french must also have a superior literary and cultural
tradition than speakers of language x? fools rush
in where angels fear to tread indeed.
\_French was the language of science during the Age
of Reason. It's had one of the greatest affects
on the English language because of that, and the
fact that after the Norman conquest French was the
language of nobility in England for quite a while.
Although Spain and Latin America have a huge,
brilliant tradition, some of the major building
blocks of western philosophy have come out of France.
Does that mean that France is the best? Maybe not.
Does that mean you should shut the fuck up? Yes.
\_ hey, will you be calling me a nazi and comparing
me to hitler soon?
\_ so your argument now is that french is
politically and philosophically superior?
and this argument is better than the french
cultural and literary superiority argument how?
(remember, you included dumas, moliere, and
hugo on your list, so you were hardly arguing
philosophy or politics. but i'll ignore that
thorny issue.)
\_ I'm superior to you because I can speak English. --aaron
\_ Same reason there's Japanophiles and other Whatever-ophiles. It is
just different than what they know and therefore must be better in
the "grass is always greener" kind of way. I was highly unimpressed
by Paris when I was there. Italy was very cool however. Paris
was just like NY or any other large American city except they don't
speak English and they don't shower. Most American cities are
cleaner.
\_ How about french women? Any comments on french women? Are the
stories of menage a trois true? Or just more american men kissing
up to french women and making up fantasies.
\- they dress better and carry themselves differently but that is
true in nyc as well.
\_ Stories of threesome? What are those?
\_ As if huge numbers of people aren't do 3somes here.
\_ They smoke a lot, if you like chicks that smell like ash trays
try french chicks.
\_ dude, there's dog shit everywhere. literally. most
of my parisian coworkers thought it was disgusting too.
i repeat. what dope are you smoking?
\_ I was there in May, perhaps it is cleaner then.
There was a lot more dogshit on the street in
Amsterdam. I didn't even notice it in Paris.
I have heard from locals that you are safe
if you stay on the main streets.
\_ Have you ever been to Paris? It is, no joke, the most
beautiful and nicest city in the world. I have not been
to all of them yet, but I have been to many.
\_ nicest? can i have some of what you're smoking? parisians
are rude and annoying, probably even in comparison to residents
of other cities of comparable size. residents of large cities
in latin countries are probably the nicest. dubliners or
londoners are probably the nicest in europe. fyi, i've lived
in paris for about 4 months, so i do speak from some experience.
and, yes, i even speak french, so don't pull the "oh they're
nice if you tried to speak french".
\_ I don't mean nice in that way. I mean the streets are clean,
the transit system works well, food is good and there is
\_ This is like saying "seattle is beautiful when it's sunny"
You must have missed the nigh-continuous transit strikes.
plenty to do and see. I even found the people to be
reasonably pleasant. I went to Paris expecting to not
like it, but I ended up being charmed.
\_ i will give you credit for the food though; it's
certainly well past acceptable, and i don't mean
just the grand vefours/tour l'argent axis.
regular grub at normal restaurants are of a pretty
high standard, and i've been having a yearn for a
good frisee aux lardons. as for the dog shit, if
you stayed in the touristy areas it's not too bad,
but you should see what they're like before the
cleaning crew got to them before ~8am.
\_ i have bad impression of paris. dog feces on the street, rude
drivers, and being cheated on subway station. :(
\_ All dogs should be banned from public places. If you want a dog
go and live in the woods with it.
\- i thought most of the people in paris were quite nice ...
and my french is really lousy. maybe some of you people
are just barbarians? physically and historically there is
something really cool about a city with such a long history
and depth [nyc has some of this is in the usa]. while i am
glad i dont work in retail, there is something pleasing about
retail-heavy cultures ... e.g. the small shops every where,
If you don't think nob hill is charming, you are a clod.
The weather is great, too. If you like LA so much,
you should move there. Most people who live in LA
hate it.
a street culture. not filled with bitter cockroaches likes
telegraph ave. and there is something just amazing about
tuning a corner at dusk and seeing the notre dame ...
i still remember that jaw dropping "holy shit" moment. --psb
\_ yeah we all know you're a bloody francophile. too much
exposure to cabanne (sp?) at a young age.
\- as i country i think the french need a beating. --psb
\- so what is so great about SF other than restaurants?
yes the sunset over mt. tam is nice ... but people dont
get credit for that. the newspapers is for illiterates by
illiterates. "even la" has better museums. etc etc etc
SF has one of the biggest reputation gaps. --psb
\_ SF has the GGB. That's about it, I think.
\_ SF has a lot of beauty, most of it physical beauty:
Every neighborhood has a hill with a great view.
If you don't think nob hill is charming, you are a
clod. The weather is great, too.
\- well i acknowledged SF has reasonable physical beauty.
but la has some nice areas too. i'm talking about the
kinds of things people can claim credit for. --psb
\_ Preserving your city's history is something people
can claim credit for. Ever been to Las Vegas?
Almost nothing there is more than 20 years old.
If you took away all of the strippers and lights,
much of the new world worth visiting. ok, except vegas.
there's not much left.
\_ liberace museum. hoover damn. valley of fire.
gambler's book store. lake mead.
\_ The crestfallen looks of those who have lost
their life savings...
\_ SF has Berkeley, one of the most fascinating
places in the world.
\_ hahaHAHHAHHhaHAHHAhhah
\_ If you're a crack whore.
\_ Weather, restaurants, physical beauty, historical
presence, metropolitan, shopping, multicultural,
liberal attitude (appeals more to tourists), past
reputation, and it can showcase it's high points
very well. SF looks good from a distance.
\_ Can't you ask this of pretty much any (north?) american
city except new york? if you discount restaurants,
amusement parks and non-world-class museums, there's not
many cities in the new world worth visiting. ok, except
vegas.
\_ Boston? Chicago?
\_ so? unless you have people there, they're both
not more than a 1 to 2 day sort of destination.
\_ As for French vs. Spanish, I guess Americans don't associate Spanish
with Spain, but rather Latin America. When you hear someone with
a French accent, you think "Wow! He's (Western) European." But
when you hear someone with a Spanish accent, you think "Gee, another
border crosser."
\_ If you're an asshole, maybe.
\_ So when your maid and gardeners are speaking Spanish you
don't think, "Thank God I'm never running for office", you
think, "How fascinating! We have so many Spaniards here
doing menial labor at below minimum wage! The European
economy must be hurting to come all this way for these jobs!"
Italian lingerie makes Victoria's Secret look like the crap that
\_ If you hear a Spanish accent and think it's a Mexican
accent, you're not just an asshole. You're a fucking
idiot.
\_ There's a distinction between Spanish accent and Mexican
accent? I have a Chinese friend who was born and grew
up in Spain, whose first language is Spanish and second
language English, The accent in his English sounds just
like those Mexicans here.
\_ When I hear you trying to talk to your maid in really loud
simple English, I think "what a fucking worthless moron
who has never worked a day of real work in his life."
\_ there is a difference actually. Spanish spoken by
Europeans sounds differently than Spanish spoken
by central americans, supposedly because a king of
Spain had a slight lisp and mandated the lisp become
part of the pronounciation of the Spanish language,
it's also what is taught in American schools, I don't
know how true the story of the Spanish king is.
\_ ok i just googled for "lisp" and "spanish" and
"monarch" and found a linguistics paper discounting
the mysterious lisping spanish monarch theory, but
a better explanation is that the version of Spanish
inflicted on Central America by raping conquistadores
has diverged slightly from the Spanish spoken by
non raped villagers in Spain.
\_ You linguistic neophytes.
\_ It's all because we've feeding our kids with French Fries all these
years! :-)
\_ Paris is one of the best cities in the world. The food and wine
are fantastic. The architecture is amazing. There is so much to
see and do and so much history. Overall, I think France is a
rather dirty country compared to the rest of Europe. The people
are not my favorite either. There's a lot to dislike about
France and the French. However, when it comes to food, wine,
fashion and the other things France does well it's pretty clear
why everyone "kisses up" to them for those. As for the women, it
comes down to their clothes, especially lingerie. French and
Italian lingerie make Victoria's Secret look like the crap that
it is. --dim
\_ Let's conquer Paris and make it into the 58th state of the USAE.
Then we can claim that we have a nice city too!
\_ Just re-elect Bush!
\_ The third entry in today's IDIOT CLUB! Congratulations! |
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