I was reading this post today and it got me to thinking. What is it with all things "French." Because I am a moron have an inquisitive mind, I thought I would do some research. Here is what I found.

• French Fries:

  The straightforward explanation of the term is that it means 'potatoes fried in the French sense of the verb': 'to fry' can mean either sautéing or deep-fat frying, while its French origin 'frire' unambiguously means deep-frying : frites being its past participle used with a plural feminine substantive as in pommes de terre frites, 'deep-fried potatoes'. Thomas Jefferson, famous for serving French dishes, wrote exactly the latter French expression. In the early 20th Century the term 'French fried' was being used for foods such as onion rings or chicken, apart from potatoes (shamelessly plucked from here).

  I wonder what they would call them if you baked them? Now, here is my question to you. How many of you eat your French Fries with ketchup? What is your favorite type of "fry?"

• French Kissing (sorry Mom, I didn't know what the heck this was until I looked it up, scouts honor!):

  A French kiss may feel like a sexy maneuver (especially to hormonal teens), but it's not very romantic to watch. Ever witness a couple playing tonsil hockey in public? Unless someone's going off to war the next morning, there's really no excuse.

  The article then goes on to say:

  So how did this slobbery smooch get its name? As far as we can tell, it stems from the stereotype that the French are a morally casual people. Wordorigins.org, which specializes in these sorts of questions, says the term dates from at least the 1920s but doesn't know exactly who coined the phrase. The site goes on to draw parallels to other adult-only phrases like "pardon my French" and "French postcards." Ooh la la!

  IdiomSite.com says a lot of the same things (i.e., the phrase comes from uptight prudes who believed the French were promiscuous). Several sites and dictionaries mention "soul kiss" as a synonym. Apparently the act of sticking your tongue into the mouth of another person is so intense, your souls intertwine. Hmm, we must be doing it wrong.

• French Onion Soup:

  Legend has it that the soup was created by King Louis XV of France. Late one night, he discovered he only had onions, butter and champagne at his hunting lodge, so he mixed them together to create the first French onion soup.

  Go Louis! This is one of my favorite soups for a wet and cold day. There are many different variations of the soup, from quick and easy to complicated. What is your favorite kind of soup for a "stay inside" kind of day?

• French Horn:

  The horn is a brass instrument that consists of tubing wrapped into a coiled form, now with finger-operated valves to help control the pitch but originally without valves to control the pitch. (This kind of horn is now called a natural horn, which is a retronym since at that time, all French horns were natural horns.) The instrument was first developed in England as a hunting horn in about 1650. The French refer to the modern valved instrument as the horn of harmony, the Germans call it the hunting horn, and the English and Americans call it the French horn. Most musicians usually refer to it simply as the horn. In the 1960s the International Horn Society declared the official name of this instrument to be the "Horn." (Courtesy of Wikipedia).

  On a side note, this is what Chickie plays in band. Last year she played the Trumpet but this year, she wanted something more challenging. In listening to her talk about it, I think she got what she asked for. What about you? Did you/do you play an instrument?

PS: Jay? The whole Pope going commando thing is just so not right. But I still think it would make a great People magazine cover.