No, not the name of a new line of lingerie.
Now, I have taken the piss out of the French all the time, but there is a scientific explanation for it all: the French are crazy!
That's right. An illuminative article in the Economist talks about Toxoplasmosis gondii, a plamodium that literally attacks the brain. The plasmodium has evolved to make mice go nuts so they act conspicuous, attract and are eaten by cats, get digested, are passed out, only to re-enter rodents to complete the loop.
So what the fuck has this got to do with the French? Apparently Toxoplasmosis affects humans too. We are obviously not food for large cats, so maybe there is no evolutionary purpose, but apparently populations with higher rates of infection - such as the French - score higher on the neurosis scale than say, the British, who have much lower infection rates.
You may be neurotic my French darlings, but it just makes me want you more.
The article is here: http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=16271339. And it is worth a look just for the picture of the fuzzy cat in mid-spring.
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