Poll
Question:
What's your least favorite country: Italy or France?
Option 1: Italy
votes: 15
Option 2: France
votes: 18
No one ever says Italy.
Frenchys
Italy. By a huge fucking margin.
Antiziganists? Check.
Berlusconi? Ugh.
Wrong side in World War II? Yeah.
Culturally useless since, at the latest, 1700? Basically.
Whereas France has got its problems, but more or less, ca va.
That's a dumb question. Both countries are awesome.
I don't understand.
Quote from: garbon on January 16, 2012, 11:47:45 PM
I don't understand.
It's from that Simpsons episode where Homer goes to work for a James Bond-esque villain named Hank Scorpio, who asks Homer--who never realizes that he's working for a science-terrorist--what his least favorite country is. Homer says France, and Scorpio proceeds to attack it with a laser, shaking his head good-naturedly, and remarking "No one ever says Italy."
Which is silly, because Italy sucks.
Gotcha, well I'm going to go with what Jacob said. Countries with Florence and Paris can't be that awful.
This is way up there among my favorite episodes.
I struggled with this one, but eventually clicked France.
The problem with Italy is it's full of Italians.
The French rock.
That being said, I've never needed to travel to either country, as I can sufficiently rely upon WW2 movie caricatures to form my opinions of them both.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on January 17, 2012, 12:47:09 AM
The problem with Italy is it's full of Italians.
This really begs a rather obvious response...
I absolutely loved going to Italy. I've never been to France, or really even Quebec, but I do have found memories of Hull...
France may be constantly mocked, but it's still a highly functioning country at the end of the day, and has been a highly functional entity for many centuries. Italy, on the other hand, has never managed to get out of its own way.
Quote from: Barrister on January 17, 2012, 02:23:00 AMbut I do have found memories of Hull...
All those lost memories of Hull found a home. :hug:
IIRC that was one of the first episodes I saw. Which was confusing (well, not as confusing as THE first episode being that weird showcase sketch show one with the alternative old Lisa...)
Anyway. As much as I want to say kill France and save Italy it is the most useful in the modern world.
Yemen. What a hell hole.
Quote from: Tyr on January 17, 2012, 03:01:54 AM
IIRC that was one of the first episodes I saw. Which was confusing (well, not as confusing as THE first episode being that weird showcase sketch show one with the alternative old Lisa...)
Anyway. As much as I want to say kill France and save Italy it is the most useful in the modern world.
Vive la difference, dude.
I'm surprised people here seem to believe Italians are worse than the French. Sure, Italians may be chaotic blowhards and they have worse government, but for example in terms of corporate culture, there is little in the Western world that is worse than the French one.
Compared to their biggest competitors - Germans, the Brits and Americans - I find them to be most grating. Germans are exacting, precise, meritocratic and well-organized. Brits are rather easy going, self-depreciating and have a (post-imperial, I assume) knack for extracting local talent. Americans are informal and goal oriented. The French, on the other hand, are often quite cliqueish, disorganized, and nepotistic. They can't get over the fact that the world speaks English, not French (compared to Germans who happily communicate in English) and seem to me to be most likely to sacrifice corporation's interests at the altar of internal power-plays between various "directeurs". Most local subsidiaries of German, English or American internationals are managed by locals - not so in French corporations - you usually have a French guy at the head who is incompetent, but has a "de" in his name.
It's actually quite surprising that the society that grew out of egality, liberty and fraternity managed to be more class-based, cliqueish and "old boy network" than the Brits.
I would like to point out that Martinus' description is entirely accurate and spot on (as always).
:)
I see what you did there.
Quote from: Zoupa on January 17, 2012, 03:50:20 AM
I would like to point out that Martinus' description is entirely accurate and spot on (as always).
:)
Have you ever worked for a French corporation?
Definitely the frogs, smug commie bastards.
Quote from: Martinus on January 17, 2012, 03:27:20 AM
It's actually quite surprising that the society that grew out of egality, liberty and fraternity managed to be more class-based, cliqueish and "old boy network" than the Brits.
At least the French decapitated their royals, and didn't start making commemorative plates about them. So they get a pass.
I've been to Italy, but not France, so I had to vote for France.
Quote from: Ideologue on January 16, 2012, 11:37:10 PM
Wrong side in World War II? Yeah.
On the other hand, can you imagine the damage the Italians would have done to the Allied cause if they had joined the Allies?
The obvious answer is Belgium.
Quote from: Zoupa on January 17, 2012, 03:50:20 AM
I would like to point out that Martinus' description is entirely accurate and spot on (as always).
:)
This time he's right.
I worked for 2 french corp. Crazy useless bastards the lot of them.
France, obviously.
Can't I choose both?
Quote from: katmai on January 17, 2012, 10:55:47 AM
Can't I choose both?
Do you know what a superlative is?
Thank you, it's always nice to get recognition.
Bah, Katmai's all talk. We should call him "lips".
You rat bastard. I already won the referendum. It's asshole to you
Quote from: Kleves on January 17, 2012, 09:45:55 AM
On the other hand, can you imagine the damage the Italians would have done to the Allied cause if they had joined the Allies?
:huh:
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2012, 12:33:08 PM
Quote from: Kleves on January 17, 2012, 09:45:55 AM
On the other hand, can you imagine the damage the Italians would have done to the Allied cause if they had joined the Allies?
:huh:
I know, they did join the allies. Just move along.
Quote from: Kleves on January 17, 2012, 09:45:55 AM
On the other hand, can you imagine the damage the Italians would have done to the Allied cause if they had joined the Allies?
Of course, they did join the Allies:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmy-malta.com%2Finteresting%2Fbarker%2FAbruzzi_600w399.jpg&hash=ee7ee994218f430b91524cb0d6f29f0f6d205858)
"Please to inform your Lordships that the Italian battle fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of the fortress of Malta." - A.B.C.
If a ship's name is too long to fit on a hat band, you should probably rethink the name.
Quote from: Ideologue on January 16, 2012, 11:37:10 PM
Italy. By a huge fucking margin.
Wrong side in World War II? Yeah.
Whereas France has got its problems, but more or less, ca va.
Yeah, but Italy being a member of the Axis was a net plus for the Allies, whereas France being an Allied nation was a net plus for the Nazis.
Quote from: dps on January 17, 2012, 04:08:32 PM
Yeah, but Italy being a member of the Axis was a net plus for the Allies, whereas France being an Allied nation was a net plus for the Nazis.
You sure? Seems harder to land on the Baltic Coast.
Yeah, I'm sure the Allies had nothing better to do with the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, planes and tanks they used to fight Italy. :homestar:
Lol.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2012, 04:14:20 PM
Yeah, I'm sure the Allies had nothing better to do with the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, planes and tanks they used to fight Italy. :homestar:
Apparently they didn't.
:homestar:
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2012, 04:14:20 PM
Yeah, I'm sure the Allies had nothing better to do with the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, planes and tanks they used to fight Italy. :homestar:
Not really. They weren't going to invade France with such a paltry force, and they weren't going to invade in a worthless, secondary front like Greece or Yugoslavia.
Macedonian front was the place to be in WW1.
Quote from: Habbaku on January 17, 2012, 04:14:20 PM
Yeah, I'm sure the Allies had nothing better to do with the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, planes and tanks they used to fight Italy. :homestar:
So am I. Until the invasion of France, those troops, planes, and tanks were just going to sit around. When they needed them elsewhere, they pulled them out of Italy.
The Germans, on the other hand, really, really could have used the troops they were forced to deploy in Italy elsewhere.
Quote from: Ideologue on January 17, 2012, 10:02:24 PM
Macedonian front was the place to be in WW1.
Greek holiday! Only with fatal infectious diseases.
Quote from: Valmy on January 18, 2012, 01:55:20 PM
Quote from: Ideologue on January 17, 2012, 10:02:24 PM
Macedonian front was the place to be in WW1.
Greek holiday! Only with fatal infectious diseases.
Sort of like a regular Greek holiday, then. ;)