March 12, 2003

US Congress opts for "freedom fries"

French fries in the House of Representatives' cafeterias will now be known as "freedom fries" as part of a Republican protest at France's opposition to a war on Iraq.

Republican representative Bob Ney, whose committee is in charge of the eateries, said the action was "a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France".

French toast from now on will be known as "freedom toast".

The move - echoing following the lead of a North Carolina restaurant - reflects the anti-French sentiment among some lawmakers who feel President Jacques Chirac is betraying the US by opposing its policy on disarming Iraq.

I get the feeling that the BBC thinks this is kind of sophmoric and silly on our part, but their memories are very short:
during WWI (and probably continuing into WWII), Britain "Anglicized" all the German names because they were at war with Germany.
To this day in the UK, dogs that we call German shepherds, they call "Alsatians" and the family name of the Royal Family was changed from Battenburg to Mountbatten for the same reason.
And those are just two examples I can think of off the top of my head!
So, Brits, let's have some Fish and Freedom Fries!