Not very, according to these two writers who protest a little too much in trying to argue that Chirac’s choice of words to lecture the East Europeans was less rude than it appears. Let’s just say that their approach to translation is generous to M. Chirac. More to the point, it’s important to remember that the French president’s remarks were made in a diplomatic context, a context when extreme politesse is usually the rule. The use of even possibly insulting words was clearly designed to send a message.

And the East Europeans understood what that was.