Posted on 05/21/2006 3:13:22 PM PDT by mazack
LONDON (AFP) - The French have been voted the world's most unfriendly nation by a landslide in a new British poll published. They were also voted the most boring and most ungenerous.
A decisive 46 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed by travellers' website Where Are You Now (WAYN) said the French were the most unfriendly nation people on the planet, British newspapers reported.
The Germans have no to reason to celebrate the damning verdict. They came second on all three counts.
WAYN's French founder, Jerome Touze, told the papers he had been stunned by the thumping condemnation of his compatriots and sought to blame it on Gallic love-struck sulking.
"I had no idea that the French would emerge as such an unfriendly country," he said.
"I think our romantic 'moodiness' is misunderstood and I will be sure to pass on the message to my family and friends back in France to be a bit more cheerful to tourists in the future."
Italy was voted the world's most cultured nation with the best cuisine, while the United States was named the most unstylish with the worst food.
The British did not feature in the top 10 of any of the categories.
"The British fit in nowhere -- good or bad. It appears that we are so completely average that the voters did not include us in any category," the tabloid Daily Express commented.
"And to our shame, four percent of respondents -- all British of course -- said they would only talk to other Britons when they are abroad."
This unwillingness to talk to the locals appears to go hand in hand with respondents' perceptions of foreigners.
While most said Spain was the foreign country where they would most like to live, they said the Spaniards were nearly as unfriendly and ungenerous as the French.
To add insult to injury, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph put the boot in on Saturday by saying in an editorial that the French stank.
"The French may like to think that Chanel No 5 is their scent but we all know that garlic and stale Gitanes are much more representative."
Ouch, ouch all around.
I'll go with the unstylish thing, but is our cuisine really worse that of the british?
If American cuisine is so bad then why is everybody so fat?
In other news, dog bites man.
What? No award for the smelliest too?
"United States was named the most unstylish with the worst food"
Since when does the word "Kingdom" get spelled "States"?
I'll never eat in this restaurant again. The food is terrible, and the portions are too small!
Mais oui, toujours ainsi? /"non common & unifying language" /sarc
The Brits basically despise the French. I think it's part of their DNA. Any poll that provides a opp to slam them will be used. And yes the French are generally obnoxious.
I work with a bunch of them so I'm providing personal experience.
Come on, why not state something less obvious like the sun rises in the east?
If we are so unstylish why does everybody copy us?
Breaking news no doubt. LOL!
I agree. It is amazing how bad the food is in the UK.
Hmmmmmmmm.
Let me think.
Rudest and most boring?
Or "most unstylish with the worst food"?
Decisions decisions...
I'll get back to you.
Oh, just out of curiosity... has anyone here ever had a "steak" in France?
Mmmmm doughnuts.
"I'll go with the unstylish thing, but is our cuisine really worse that of the british?"
Nobody's cuisine is worse than the British. Hands down the most boring, tasteless food on the blue marble.
But then Cajun food is my bag.
OK, we got to give the Frenchies that one.
Basically no, because I think you and them eat basically the same things. I have here a list of "traditional" American food that I posted on anotehr thread. You share 99% of them with "the mother country":
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1635426/posts?page=86#86
99% of "traditional American dishes" are just as authentically British, or (English-)Canadian, Australian, or New Zealand for that matter.
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