A joke I found very amusing

Alexandra · Post by **Alexandra** » Wed Feb 20, 2002 8:28 am

Earlier this evening, as we tend to, my husband and I were watching ESPNs 'Pardon the Interruption' which is a cool little show.

Well, during one segment, the host Tony Kornhauser, was doing a spiel and the segment of the show was about which was more fun to talk about, French Poodles or the French Skating Judge. Tony chats on about various things French related, and ends up telling this joke:

Q: "Why did the French grow two beautiful rows of trees on either side of the Champs Elisee?" (I hope I spelled that right!)

A: "So that the Germans could march in the shade when the occupied the country!"

I laughed and laughed so hard I missed the next segment, and worried my husband quite a bit, since I'm not supposed to laugh that hard right now!

Alex

madclicker · Post by **madclicker** » Wed Feb 20, 2002 1:43 pm

HI,

You got the spelling nearly all right for the Champs Elysées !

And yes it's a very good old joke here in France.

<img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

Gen.Hoepner · Post by **Gen.Hoepner** » Wed Feb 20, 2002 3:14 pm

ehehehehehehe!!!Yes:it's very funny!Alex <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> id your AArs stopped defenetly?

lnp4668 · Post by **lnp4668** » Wed Feb 20, 2002 8:08 pm

Wicked sense of humor <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Alexandra · Post by **Alexandra** » Wed Feb 20, 2002 10:34 pm

Originally posted by Gen.Hoepner:
ehehehehehehe!!!Yes:it's very funny!Alex <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> id your AArs stopped defenetly?

No, not forever, I don't think. I grew frustated with what I saw as poor design in a lot of the DF scen I played, and have paused playing for a bit, during my 11th - at some point I'll go back to it.

Alex

Lost Lieutenant · Post by **Lost Lieutenant** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 11:42 am

I love that joke. My Dad first told it to me; he was at a NATO conference and a Canadian officer who had the microphone told it. The German officers laughed hysterically. The French officers got up and walked out. Dem Frogs ain't got no sense a' humor. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

I've tried telling that joke at parties. Nobody ever gets it unless it's an Army function, a group of wargamers, or a bunch of history students. Go figure. Told it once to a bunch of Germans, they seemed almost scared to laugh...

fguillemart · Post by **fguillemart** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 10:23 pm

<img src="mad.gif" border="0">
When I was a young boy, I saw a few seconds of a film made by the german propaganda on the very day the Wehrmacht was on the Champs Elysees in june 1940.
This film showed a french man in its mid fourties crying.
That's probably a reason why we "dem froggies" don't have any sense of humour.
By the way, you know why tere are so many pictures hanging on the walls in Buckingham Palace ?
Just for Hitler having a pleasant visit in case you'd been invaded too.

Bing · Post by **Bing** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 10:53 pm

Francis - The image you refer to, the Frenchman in tears, became one of the most famous of all WW2 photos, I'm reasonably certain it is the same one. Seemed to capture the frustration and humiliation the French must have been experiencing, whatever reason the photo has been used in countless pictorial histories of WW2.

As to the other, the last time it happened was in 1066, the man's name was William. What did you have in mind?

Bing

fguillemart · Post by **fguillemart** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 4:51 pm

Bing,
I think we've seen the same picture.
What i had in mind was as follows.
For sure UK has suffered a lot from WWII, no one denies it.
But England did not suffer from being invaded and occupied 41/2 years long.
They got kicked in the *** in 1940 and did not return before 1944 ( w/the exception of Dunkirk )when you Americans could help them out.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but Ithink William was a "dem froggy", no? <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

peter hellman · Post by **peter hellman** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 9:04 pm

In Finland we might ask a German when offering a cigarrette, do you smoke Marlboro or Lapland? <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Lost Lieutenant · Post by **Lost Lieutenant** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 9:30 pm

Alright, alright, in the interest of good international relations I officially denounce that joke and deny that I ever found it amusing. Didn't realize that or the "froggy" comment would boil so much blood. My apologies...

Anyway, William was not French or a member of the Frankish tribe, though he did reside in Normandy. He was a Viking whose recent ancestors had been allowed to settle Normandy in return for protecting the coast against the depredations of other Vikings.

And I'm not British. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Bing · Post by **Bing** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 9:55 pm

If you will read the comment, I don't think it makes any reference at all to Willaim being French (France as such did not exist at the time: there was "Isle de France" and that was it).

William was indeed a Norman. He was the last one to invade the British Isles, that is the reference.

Bing

11Bravo · Post by **11Bravo** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 5:40 am

Originally posted by Alexandra:
I laughed and laughed so hard I missed the next segment, and worried my husband quite a bit, since I'm not supposed to laugh that hard right now!

Alex

Congratulations, if I guessed correctly. <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Truckeye · Post by **Truckeye** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:05 am

francis, please dont forget the UK and US did fight the germans from 42 on in the desert and italy. your post seemed to insinuate that the Brits did nothing til 1944. there was also action in india and the pacific for both the English speaking allies as well the whole period.

as for the joke, it us merely a joke, and a humerous one at that. no different than saying the germans planted vinyards in alsace as a present to the french. kid about danzig, the poilsh corridor, over here could joke about Americans getting beat in Montreal etc etc.