Posted on 10/10/2005 1:22:06 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
FINALLY it’s official. The French DO smell.
After generations of jibes about hygiene over the Channel, a study yesterday revealed nine out of ten French people do NOT wash regularly.
That means that out of a population of 60.5million, more than 54million risk being whiffy.
Shockingly, 2.5million NEVER shower or bath while 1.8million NEVER brush their teeth.
The French do spend between 48 and 56 minutes in the bathroom each day — but much of that is applying cosmetics.
Nine out of ten French women and half of the men regularly apply perfume and cosmetics.
A third spend time in the bathroom reading, while a quarter daydream, 14 per cent make phone calls, eight per cent sing, six per cent smoke and one per cent eat.
The findings were published by a respected Paris-based weekly magazine. Their statistical supplement was entitled: “24 hours in France — An Unusual Portrait of France and the French.”
But last night former French leisure boss Pierre-Yves Gerbeau, once in charge of the Millennium Dome, fumed: “This is ridiculous, bloody annoying and unhelpful.”
The 39-year-old went on: “This idea of the ‘Frog’ who doesn’t wash, has a baguette on his head and a string of onions around his neck is passe.
“It’s about as real as the idea of the Englishman in his pinstripe suit and bowler hat.”
The French national statistics also revealed that on average around 2,000 French citizens go on strike each day, while 2.4million French people take prescription drugs.
I failed to see the source of this 'statistics'. Who did the poll? Who are the subjects?
I hear that the French and English women never shave their legs or pits! Yuck! Must be like going to bed with a wire haired terrier every night. How sexy!
That's a fact. I know an Englishman whose breath can strip paint off the wall.
It used to be common a few decades ago to see Frenchmen in England wearing berets, with onions around their neck and lots more hanging from a study black bicycle. As far as I could tell these were just farmers who travelled across the Channel to peddle their wares.
ping
Ah, yes... Mineral bath as hot as I can physically stand it, bowl of cubed watermelon and strawberries, very large glass of lime and tonic...
Heaven... :-)
no baguettes?
We used to do business with a French company and we made several trips to France over the years. On one of the trips one of the Frenchmen asked us over to dinner at his apartment. While there I asked for the water closet. The lady of the house showed me to the bathroom and politely told me that in France it is very rude to ask to use the bathroom while you are in someones house. WHAT the frick am I supposed to do, go outside? I replied, or something similar, I don't really know what I said, I was just the dumb American. But I was shocked.
Actually the use of "deo" is the problem in Europe. They should be using antiperspirant....deoderants only mask the smell and control the initial odor causing bacteria. Here in the states, most of us use products which are a combi of the two, deo and anti-perspirant.
And while I love to rag on the french as much as the next person...it's not just the french who smell.
So do I!
A glass of wine, a book, some nibbles and I can spend a good afternoon.
I think that it is safe to assume that the full name was "French whore bath".
I guess you were supposed to do like the French and just go in your pants. Who would notice a little addition to the stench?
Ah, Gondram, don't let facts and reality stand in the face of dearly-held prejudices.
Naturally, one could wonder, if this poll was even remotely connected to reality, why French homes are still equipped with a bathroom instead of a wine cellar, or why the French supermarkets are full of soaps, shampoos, shower gels, after-shaves, anti-perspirant sticks, toothpaste, brushes, beauty and hygiene products...
As always, it's amazing the "facts" I "learn" in these threads about the country I live in.
"As always, it's amazing the "facts" I "learn" in these threads about the country I live in."
I am confident that the people that I hang out with both in real time and online are smarter and better educated than average... and yet sometimes the level of gullibility is amazing.
The french word for odor is not odour but "odeur".
Il n'y a pas de honte à être con, seulement à le rester...
" Ah, I guess it's not a question of gullibility, just a question of really wanting to believe certain things are true. "
Your right that it doesn't matter much on articles like this ..but in political issues the gullibility can be a real problem.
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