A derogatory term used by citizens of
France to describe people from the
United Kingdom. The term “Les rosbifs” (the
roast beefs, if you couldn’t tell), came about as a reference to the
British way of cooking
beef in the 17th century. The dish became heavily identified with the people from across the
English Channel (La Manche or the Sleeve). British-French relations have always been somewhat shaky, since the 1700’s, when the two
nations fought over trade agreements, through modern day conflicts over politics and
European Union treaties. The
insult became antiquated until the late 1990’s, when an argument between the UK and France over importing English beef during the
Mad Cow scare resurrected the insult. Today, it largely remains the equivalent of the “
frog” insult, a somewhat offensive, though mostly facetious term.
With credit due to a BBC programme on the subject I heard in March 2003 during the "freedom fries" incident in the US.