Freedom fries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Freedom fries" was a short-lived name used by some in the United States for French fries. The "freedom fries" affair was an example of anti-French sentiment in the United States. In the international debate over the decision to launch the 2003 invasion of Iraq, France expressed strong opposition in the United Nations to taking such action. The French position was not popular in the United States, leading some to campaign for the boycotting of French goods and businesses and the removal of the country's name from products.
Contents |
[edit] The Congressional renaming
On March 11, 2003, Representatives Robert W. Ney (R - Ohio) and Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R - North Carolina) declared that all references to French fries and French toast on the menus of the restaurants and snack bars run by the House of Representatives would be removed. House cafeterias were ordered to re-name French fries as "freedom fries". This action was carried out without a congressional vote, under the authority of Congressman Ney's position as Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees restaurant operations in the house. The simultaneous renaming of French toast to "freedom toast" attracted less attention.[1]
According to a statement released by Ney, this move was a symbolic effort to express displeasure with France's "continued refusal to stand with their U.S. allies" (see Iraq disarmament crisis). The statement further read: "This action today is a small, but symbolic, effort to show the strong displeasure many on Capitol Hill have with our so-called ally, France."
This sentiment was communicated through the Internet, chain e-mails and by frequent references on 24-hour news coverage from stations like CNN and Fox News.
The French embassy made no comment, except to point out that French fries come from Belgium. "We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes," said Nathalie Loisau, an embassy spokeswoman. Critics have also asserted that "French Fries" are called so because they are "frenched", or thinly sliced,[2] though this may be a false etymology - the first English references to french fries named them "Potatoes, fried in the French Manner."[3]
Congressmen Ney and Jones, however, were not the first to re-name French fries as freedom fries. A number of private restaurants across the country started the renaming movement. Neal Rowland, owner of the privately owned fast-food restaurant Cubbie's in Beaufort, North Carolina, started the whole thing by getting involved within the anti-French sentiment in the United States as he decided to sell his fried potato strips under the name "freedom fries." Rowland claimed that his intent was not to slight the French people but to be patriotic and support President George W. Bush. Many of Rowland's customers were among the local military troops.
Despite the symbolic change, it did not take hold in any meaningful way. Many Americans refer to French fries simply as "fries", thus the leading adjective is largely ignored. The only real effect the incident seems to have had was to provide comedians, satirists, and others with fodder for jokes for a few months.
French kissing, French poodles, French dip sandwiches, French ticklers, French horns, French augmented sixth chords, France, and American actor French Stewart were not renamed, though some political satirists referred to them as if they had been. However, Reckitt Benckiser, makers of French's mustard, was sufficiently concerned to clarify that their brand name was derived from a family name and to issue a press release affirming its patriotism.[4][5]
In 2005, Walter B. Jones, having arrived at the belief that the United States went to war "with no justification", said of the "freedom fries" episode, "I wish it had never happened."[6] On November 3, 2006, the other Representative who sponsored the name change, Bob Ney, resigned from office after pleading guilty to involvement in the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.
By July 2006, the House had quietly changed the name in all its restaurants back to original "French fries".[7]
[edit] Historical parallels
[edit] In the US
Politically-motivated euphemism like this is reminiscent of anti-German sentiment during the First World War, when sauerkraut was renamed liberty cabbage, and hamburgers, liberty steaks. Even the German measles were instead called liberty measles.[8] This similarity is intentional: Rowland described a conversation about these renamed foods during World War I as the inspiration for "freedom fries." [9]
[edit] In other countries
Other examples were filete imperial ("imperial beef"), a euphemism for filete ruso ("Russian beef") and "ensaladilla nacional" ("national salad") instead of "ensaladilla rusa" ("Russian salad"), both appearing in Spain after the triumph of the Fascist General Francisco Franco. "Ellinikos kafes" ("Greek coffee") replaced "Turkikos kafes" ("Turkish coffee") on Greek menus after the Turkish-Greek collisions of the 1920s and in Turkey Russian salad became American salad because of the anti-Communist sentiment in the country.
New Zealand: In 1998, while the French government was testing nuclear weapons in the Pacific, French loaves were renamed Kiwi loaves in a number of supermarkets and bakeries. This, however, does not appear to have been as extensively reported or publicized as anti-French sentiment in the United States. However, French Fries at a few family restaurants were renamed Kiwi Fries, or just "Fries", which was already an established term. The "Fries" tag remains today, though many New Zealanders use the British word "chips".
New Zealand: The kiwifruit gets its name from a marketing strategy, naming it after the kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand, where the fruit was first commercially popularised in 1959 by the New Zealand fruit-and-vegetable export company Turners and Growers; previously it was known as the Chinese gooseberry, but due to the Cold War, the Chinese label seemed unfit for popularization of the fruit in Western countries. Growers gradually adopted the name and in 1974 the kiwifruit became the official trade name.
Russia: The city of St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd during World War I because it sounded too German.
United Kingdom: During World War I, the German Shepherd was renamed the Alsatian and German biscuits were renamed Empire biscuits due to strong anti-German sentiment. Similar renaming happened in Czechoslovakia after World War II. Perhaps most famously the name of the royal family was changed by George V in 1917 to Windsor from the German sounding surname Wettin and house name Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
France: During World War I, the coffee with whipped cream, previously known as Café Viennois (Vienna coffee) was renamed Café Liégeois (Coffee from Liège) due to the state of war with Austria-Hungary. This appellation is still in use today, mainly for ice-creams (chocolat liégeois and café liegeois).
Canada: During World War I, the Ontario city of Berlin was renamed Kitchener.
Germany: In 1915, after Italy entered WWI, restaurants in Berlin stopped serving Italian Salad.
Iran: During the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy in 2006, several Iranian groups advocated changing the name of Danish pastry to "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad"[citation needed].
[edit] Trivia
- In 2006 a movie called "Freedom Fries: And Other Stupidity We'll Have to Explain to Our Grandchildren" was released. The official film website is Freedom-Fries.com. [10]
- The term "Freedom Fries" was created in spite of the perceived attitudes of the French. However there is irony that can be seen in this when one considers that the Statue of Liberty, a prominent symbol of freedom in the United States, was a gift from the French to the U.S.
- Robert Plant, former lead singer with Led Zeppelin, included a song entitled "Freedom Fries" on "Mighty ReArranger", the first album made in 2005 with his current band The Strange Sensation.
- A similar term is featured in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, whereby industrial-grade alcohol given to citizens is called "Victory Gin".
[edit] See also
- Anti-French sentiment in the United States
- Francophobia
- W Ketchup
- Minuteman Salsa
- Jingoism
- Old Europe
- Roses of the Prophet Muhammad
- Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys
- Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/11/sprj.irq.fries/
- ^ http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=frenched
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20020606020850/www.tx7.com/fries/docs/history.html
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/03/27/french030327
- ^ http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-frenchs-mustard.htm
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1491567,00.html
- ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060802-125318-3981r.htm
- ^ Over Here: World War I on the Home Front. Digital History. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.
- ^ French fries back on House menu. BBC News. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.
- ^ http://www.Freedom-Fries.com
[edit] External links
- Federal France-Bashing Standards & Guidelines - From whitehouse.org parody web site (not whitehouse.gov).
- "House restaurants change name of 'french fries' and 'french toast'", CNN.com, March 11, 2003
- "French fries back on House menu", BBC News, 2 August 2006