Word: frenchmen
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...American slang to get out of a tough spot. He and two staffers were covering an Arab nationalist uprising in Tunisia in 1952, when his car was stopped by a large band of Arabs. "After many minutes of trying to convince them that we were les Americains and not Frenchmen, who were being shot at the time, the sheik called for silence, indicated he would give me the test. In complete silence he stuck his wrinkled face up to mine and said, with a look of infinite cunning, the only American word he knew: 'Okay.' I replied emphatically...
...this reverse . . . France will have the virile reaction of a great nation." Without signal, the Deputies of France rose to their feet-all but the many Deputies of the Communist Party (and one ex-Gaullist). In their smug disdain for the dead of Dienbienphu, the Communists who call themselves Frenchmen showed their true colors...
...most of the anger Frenchmen heaped on their confused, divided leaders. "Who placed De Castries and his men in this trap? Who is officially or unofficially responsible? . . . Who? What party? What minister? What general?" demanded Franc-Tireur. On their allies: "Why didn't America help us?" moaned a bewildered old Parisian lady. And on themselves : "The fighters of Dienbienphu died because we lied to ourselves . . . What these sacrifices demand is an examination of our conscience," said Le Figaro...
...hallmarks of a Frenchman supposedly is le bon sens-common sense. But two Frenchmen have put out books about experiences that belie the national characteristic. One decided to penetrate the Amazonian jungle and make friends with cannibals. The other proposed crossing the Atlantic alone in a 15-ft. dinghy fitted with a single tiny sail. Both were displaying uncommon sense, which is the kind that turns the key on adventure and opens doors to discovery...
Pants in the Ants. In Journey to the Far Amazon, Explorer Alain Gheerbrant tells how, with one Colombian and two Frenchmen, he plunged into the "green hell" of the Sierra Parima between Venezuela and Brazil. That vast sea of vegetation, never before crossed by a white man, was filled with reptiles, insects and maiir eating fish, all unfriendly. One night in a grotto a scraping noise awakened Gheerbrant. It was an advancing column, 16 inches wide, of red ants. They had already devoured his belt, half his trousers and were starting on his leather camera case...