Right, it couldn’t possibly be a request to an ally based on the coincidence of a totally fine French name with an unfortunate meaning in English. Similarly, if

Right, it couldn’t possibly be a request to an ally based on the coincidence of a totally fine French name with an unfortunate meaning in English. Similarly, if for some reason the French end up on Merde Avenue, we should be equally offended when they request a different name with which to correspond. Because this matters. A lot. And it’s absolutely worth a mortal slugfest in a comment section about the great evil of the western world making an accepted diplomatic request of precisely zero consequence several thousand years ago. You fight the good fight. Show us our follies. Perhaps France should have invaded Maine over this inordinately egregious insult of insults.