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26 December 2014

Putin makes a fool of himself commenting on the French language

Ha! Ha! Another ignorant politician spouts off saloon bar style.
Putin wants more "language nationalism" but gets it all a bit mixed up...
"The French won't change 'bistro' to 'cafe' just like that. There are some words that are just settled," Putin was cited as saying.
The fact is that "cafe" was the original French word, which was replaced by "bistro" in 1814 when Russian officers sat in them shouting "Бистро! бистро!" at the waitresses who seemed to be working too slowly for their superior tastes. So the French changed. But Russians are to prevented from having free choice about their language.
Older readers will remember that George W. Bush made a similar idiot of himself when he said, "The French don't even have a word for 'entrepreneur'!"


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