French Associated with Things They Have No Link To

Posted by Bridget Lux Aug 1, 2006

This morning, a former colleague and I enjoyed a lovely breakfast of French toast at Le Café de Paris in Boise, Idaho. Now, Boise, despite having a quasi-French name (le bois means the woods in French) is not considered a mecca for French culture by any stretch of the imagination. But the people here are more cosmopolitan and with it than most people think and a French restaurant in the Idaho capital isn't altogether strange. That said, French toast does not exist in France. The delectable morning treat is actually named after a guy named French. (And so, when, along with "freedom fries," the ubiquitous "they" changed the name to "freedom toast," they really had no idea what they were talking about).

It's funny how we associate certain things with certain countries simply because somewhere along the lines, someone attached the country name to the item or action. A couple other examples:

* French fries: The French call them "pomme frites."

* French braids: Apparently, somewhere in the world they call a regular braid an "English braid." That's new to me, but I've long known about the "French braid," which is a little classier, much more difficult to pull off. The French, however, have a completely different name for it - plaiting, I believe.

* French kiss: So, maybe this one makes a little more sense to me. The French, after all, are a passionate bunch, but those I've talked to don't understand why Americans call it a "French" kiss.

Of course, there are some things - French bread, French onion soup - that are so named because of their origins in France. And similar naming conventions related to the United States occur in Europe. For example, you can often order "American coffee," which is generally really bad. What Americans would consider a regular sized refrigerator is known as an "American fridge" in Europe. They also call one type of kitchen an "American kitchen," but I still haven't figured out exactly what that means.