On the other thread on this subject, I think it was Cholmondley Warner who said Aussies are called Tea Leaves. It's been on my mind - what is that? Tea leaf = thief? Tea leaf = ???

(Not insulted, merely curious. We Austalians are thick skinned.)

Kay

travelingmad,

I would never call a French Canadian a "frog," as a "frog" is a Frenchman from France (Robert Charlebois notwithstanding). Every good Anglo Quebecer knows that French Canadians are "Pepsis" or "Peppers." Would you like a Mae West with that?

Li

Yep - spot on, Kay.

Though don't forget we've made amends for packing you all off down-under by giving you Earls Court as a foreign protectorate.

I actually first learned about the use of frog to describe a Frenchman from my Parisian friend Veronique. She wasn't the slightest bit offended by it, but rather thought it was amusing in its historical context. I've heard many an amused reference to it from French people over the years, too.

Interesting discussion.

All these years in Switzerland, I've never heard or read of the Swiss calling the French, "ein Frosch."

Kay, In cockney, tea leaf means thief.
This list of Aussie expressions says it means the same.

http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=106206

I had a Strylian get nasty and tried to provoke me by shouting Pom at me.

Not even vaguely offended.

Can we tie this one up once and for all - Frog - cannot be that much of an offensive term of abuse if there is a chain of pubs in Paris of that name and is clearly using the term in context.

If the term was offensive it would be akin to having a bar in Alabama called something which used the N word.

well, I must say in my years of posting I never caused a contaversy and was lucky if any of my original posts generated more than a handfull of messages. My origonal post which I asked the editors to delete as it was going to far in attitude was educational for me. And, so the beat goes on... someone, I have forgotton who asked the question of how many posts would that first one create ...now, it seems to have a life of it's own. So, what have I learned:

The use of the word "frog' impacts many in different ways. I should have thought through that aspect of diversity. But, I did get confirmation that for some, as I understood, it is offensive. So, where do we go from here...maybe that is easy, it's about tone, intent and the personal history of th speaker and listner. In the end we just need to be sensitive .... none of us are perfect, I know I am not,,,

I think it's pretty obvious that where we go from here is to understand that the only people who are offended by the frog appellation are hypersensitive Americans who have very little experience with actual French people.

Not that it would be a particularly good idea to call a French person a frog in any sort of pejorative way, though there are far worse insults if you're really looking to pick a fight with a Frenchman.

I beg your pardon, I have French friends and alot of experience with them since the 60s. I disagree but I don't try to offend others opinions.

Cigale: I wasn't arguing with YOU! It was Girlspy's absolute black and white opinion presented as fact that I thought was totally off the mark.

Sorry, I misunderstood, I apologize.

I posted this a few minitues ago and it disappeared???

Next they'll me to stop calling them "Krauts" and "Limeys". Maybe I should stomp my feet and cry when our overseas cousins call us "Yanks".

Not a bad idea:)

Why use any terms that are potentially derogatory? The official terms are short enough that they do not impede the flow of a phrase.

Living in Boston, I definately am a yank.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncjones/yank.htm