Hi,
My understanding of the earliest reference to the term "Frog" to describe the French comes from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. She had a French courtier present in her own court with whom she was very close and some suspect maybe just a little bit more. He gave her a present of a little green frog in the form of a pendant - a bit like a key fob and thereafter Elizabeth called him "my little frog" as a term of close endearment. Eventually this relationship was to fail but Elizabeth continued to carry the frog with her for the rest of her life.
It seems therefore that far from being an intended insult that this is actually a term of endearment which unfortunately has been hijacked by mischief makers.
Rest easy.
Ken Hume
London, England
> Dale,
>
> The use of the word Frog is tantamount to Spic, Wop, etc... This must be
> stopped. Thanks!
>
> Marc St. Martin
> Livermore, California
> USA, but still French
>
> -----Forwarded Message-----
>>From: iamnofred@aol.com
>>Sent: May 21, 2009 7:02 PM
>>To: billydavid13@comcast.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>>Subject: Re: [CR] The French.
>>
>>I am not French but I did live in Western Canada for 6 years and heard the
>>term "frog" on several occasions. Like many slang words it isn't always
>>meant to be pleasing. Sometimes people just throw out a word during?a
>>conversation but?they have no ill feelings meant buy saying the word.
>>?During one very cold winter while I was living in Calgary -Alberta in
>>Canada the eastern Provence of Quebec needed oil and the leading political
>>figure of Alberta said "let the eastern bastards freeze"...... Every
>>nationality has nicknames -we learn to get over it.. We should not get
>>bent out of shape if someone uses those names. Be more mature than he
>>other guy.
>>
>>Gary Smith
>>Getting ready for 4 days of riding and a wonderful Memorial Day weekend
>>Raleigh NC
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: billydavid13@comcast.net
>>To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>>Sent: Thu, 21 May 2009 7:45 pm
>>Subject: [CR] The French.
>>
>>
>>
>>Hi all. I don't want to stir up any controversy, but i am i the only one
>>who
>>finds "frog" objectionable? The French may?have contributed virtually
>>nothing to
>>rock and roll but pretty much everything essential to bikes originated
>>there.
>>They deserve a bit more respect. Billy [i'd rather be lost stumbling drunk
>>in
>>Paris than doing anything else anywhere else] Ketchum; Chicago, IL; USA.