Likewise as I told someone offlist, the great Formula One champion Jackie Stewart often referred to his friend the only slightly less great Formula One champion Alain Proust as "The Little Frog". If Proust was insulted, he never gave any indication of such. I would say Frog is no more offensive than the word Kraut to refer to Germans, and being of German decent, I've never been particaulrly offended by "Kraut". I think we need to lighten up a bit on the Political Correctness. Deliberate insults cannot be tolerated here, but one should not constantly search for things to be insulted over either.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: kfhume@hotmail.com <kfhume@hotmail.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Fw: Re: The French.
\r?\n> To: "Marc St. Martin" <marc.stmartin@earthlink.net>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Friday, May 22, 2009, 2:08 AM
\r?\n> Hi,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> My understanding of the earliest reference to the term
\r?\n> "Frog" to describe the French comes from the reign of Queen
\r?\n> Elizabeth I. She had a French courtier present in her own
\r?\n> court with whom she was very close and some suspect maybe
\r?\n> just a little bit more. He gave her a present of a little
\r?\n> green frog in the form of a pendant - a bit like a key fob
\r?\n> and thereafter Elizabeth called him "my little frog" as a
\r?\n> term of close endearment. Eventually this relationship was
\r?\n> to fail but Elizabeth continued to carry the frog with her
\r?\n> for the rest of her life.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> It seems therefore that far from being an intended insult
\r?\n> that this is actually a term of endearment which
\r?\n> unfortunately has been hijacked by mischief makers.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Rest easy.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Ken Hume
\r?\n> London, England
\r?\n>
\r?\n> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marc St. Martin" <marc.stmartin@earthlink.net>
\r?\n> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 4:15 AM
\r?\n> Subject: [CR] Fw: Re: The French.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> > Dale,
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > The use of the word Frog is tantamount to Spic, Wop,
\r?\n> etc... This must be stopped. Thanks!
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Marc St. Martin
\r?\n> > Livermore, California
\r?\n> > USA, but still French
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > -----Forwarded Message-----
\r?\n> >> From: iamnofred@aol.com
\r?\n> >> Sent: May 21, 2009 7:02 PM
\r?\n> >> To: billydavid13@comcast.net,
\r?\n> classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> >> Subject: Re: [CR] The French.
\r?\n> >>
\r?\n> >> I am not French but I did live in Western Canada
\r?\n> for 6 years and heard the term "frog" on several occasions.
\r?\n> Like many slang words it isn't always meant to be pleasing.
\r?\n> Sometimes people just throw out a word during?a conversation
\r?\n> but?they have no ill feelings meant buy saying the word.
\r?\n> ?During one very cold winter while I was living in Calgary
\r?\n> -Alberta in Canada the eastern Provence of Quebec needed oil
\r?\n> and the leading political figure of Alberta said "let the
\r?\n> eastern bastards freeze"...... Every nationality has
\r?\n> nicknames -we learn to get over it.. We should not get bent
\r?\n> out of shape if someone uses those names. Be more mature
\r?\n> than he other guy.
\r?\n> >>
\r?\n> >> Gary Smith
\r?\n> >> Getting ready for 4 days of riding and a wonderful
\r?\n> Memorial Day weekend
\r?\n> >> Raleigh NC
\r?\n> >>
\r?\n> >> -----Original Message-----
\r?\n> >> From: billydavid13@comcast.net
\r?\n> >> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> >> Sent: Thu, 21 May 2009 7:45 pm
\r?\n> >> Subject: [CR] The French.
\r?\n> >>
\r?\n> >>
\r?\n> >>
\r?\n> >> Hi all. I don't want to stir up any controversy,
\r?\n> but i am i the only one who
\r?\n> >> finds "frog" objectionable? The French may?have
\r?\n> contributed virtually nothing to
\r?\n> >> rock and roll but pretty much everything essential
\r?\n> to bikes originated there.
\r?\n> >> They deserve a bit more respect. Billy [i'd rather
\r?\n> be lost stumbling drunk in
\r?\n> >> Paris than doing anything else anywhere else]
\r?\n> Ketchum; Chicago, IL; USA.