Because they are (generally) stuck up, prissy folks who think they're superior to everyone else, but when things get rough they hide behind others or get conquered in like a day. Go to http://www.google.com type in French war victories and click the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

Cause all they do is run around all day talking about how bad they gotta pee. I mean, come on. There's a toilette right over there.

Parce que ils portent les bérets. Et ils parlent le français... et ils mangent les cuisses de grenouille.

well ive only met two french people in my life but they seemed pretty nice.... they were young exchange students tho... very polite and propper :) and very cute!

As with any other nationality...there are good and bad in all.

Michael Moore speculated in the movie "Sicko"... http://www.sicko-themovie.com/ that the French welfare state has made their people feel secure enough that they are willing to stand up to and protest their government's actions on a regular basis (like US people used to do in the 1960s). Hence, it's in the interest of the US power elite to discourage US citizens from asking "Why can't we have universal health care, and excellent low-cost child care, and government funded part-time nannies for new mothers, and 8 weeks vacation per year, etc. like the French do?" So, of course, we are encouraged to hate the French for no rational reason. On a more concrete level, the US Mainstream McNews Media played along with Bush administration complaints about the French trying to delay our invasion of Iraq by taking the idea of international cooperation and weapons inspection seriously. That's when these silly notions like "Freedom Fries" were propogated. Meanwhile, the US government just wanted a UN resolution that they could use as a cover story for the invasion that they had already planned to implement regardless of what Saddam Hussein did.

because they lied to us, French Fries where not invented by the French lol (thinking to self: i think) lol

They're getting better - more attuned to non-French people. My brother's good friend (francais) Jacques said once, when I asked him why French people were so rude to foreigners, "Well, they're not very pleasant to one another, either."

Ici, au Québec, beaucoup des français vraiment auront voulu séparer de le reste du Canada. Here in Quebec, many of the french really want to separate from the rest of Canada.

They're snooty and they think they are the pinnacle of culture and refinement. Remember that scene in Monty Python's Holy Grail when they were fighting the French?

People like or dislike French people for the same reasons they like or dislike anyone else. If someone dislikes all French people, or people for the sole reason that they are French, that would be because that person is a bigot. (I see several attempted justifications of bigotry using stereotypes on this thread.)

You are generalizing. I do not know your nationality or ethnicity, but turn that around on you... Why do people not like [enter your ethnicity and nationality here]? How would it feel if the asker did it just to make people say how much they hate you. Does not feel good, does it. It would feel worse if everyone did it to you. People are people.

Because one of the fastest ways to make yourself feel better (or more important) is by associating yourself with a group (your own nationality, or sexuality, etc) and then looking down on someone else's group for whatever reason. Note that the reasons can be either very silly or perfectly reasonable - there are usually logical reasons to find fault with almost any group - but the process of disliking them is more important than the reason. It ALWAYS says more about the person doing the disliking than the group, and usually nothing terribly flattering, but on the other hand it does strengthen the arbitrary bonds within the group that you have associated with. This can be a useful thing if it's put to creative use, but isn't usually, and is also rather outdated in such a critical and globalized society.

It's the French Canadians, their snotty attitudes and their desire to separate that makes me ill. They couldn't survive without the rest of us, don't they know that? However, if that separation does occur, I will be the first one to celebrate being able to read BOTH sides of the cereal box-in proper English!

I don't dislike the French; as a matter of fact, on of my all-time favorite musicals is based on the French Revolution, and I absolutely love the French characters in that one! Plus, the language is so cool. I really want to learn it.

It's more like why do some people not like french people... and why do some french people not like other people... and why do you not like certain people... If people generalize like that... saying I don't like 'french' people... There just being naive... People may say that but if they met someone who was french and actually got to know them they would realize that there a lot like most people...

This goes for half of them: They are pompous and snooty. And they think they are artistic but most of them are pseudo artistic and don't know what true art is. This goes for the other half of them: Very nice people who are non judgemental and just enjoy life.

I think many Americans consider the French (without having actually met them) as rude and arrogant. Which is ironic when you think about it...