phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Frogs

Posted by ESC on March 27, 2003

In Reply to: Why . . . posted by R. Berg on March 27, 2003

: : Just wondering. Apperently 'cheese-eating surrender monkey' is from the Simpsons.

: Dict. of Amer. Slang says "Probably from 'frog-eater.'" I'm guessing that alliteration helped.

FROG - "a Frenchman, was common in England by 1870 but became well known in the U.S. only during World War I. It is probably from the French relishing frogs as a delicacy, reinforced by the toads on the coat of arms of the city of Paris." From I Hear America Talking: An Illustrated History of American Words and Phrases by Stuart Berg Flexner (Von Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976).

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.