Rosbifs, Frogs & Krauts

"I refuse to admit defeat to these Rosbifs". That was how Jean-Michel Aulas, chairman of Olympique Lionnais, appealed to his footballers' pride before the second leg of the Europa League tie opposing the French club to Tottenham Hotspur from London. I write this before the match because it is not its result that matters but the old-style derogatory name used by the French businessman for the English. It reminds me of the Fourties, when the Germans were the Krauts, the French the Frogs (because they actually eat them) and the British the Roastbeefs. I used these names in my novel partially set during WW2 to make it sound realistic, but to hear that in 2013 is just weird. Unless Mr Aulas is really nostalgic of the times when the Roastbeefs died by the thousands to free his country.

In the picture below, the British War Cemetery in Ranville, Normandy.