One waiter I met at an hotel in Dijon knew very little English--about as much as a poll parrot.

The moment I entered the _salle- a-manger_ he started to his feet.
"Ah! You English!" he cried.
"Well, what about us ?" I answered.

It was during the period of the Boer War.

I took it he was about to denounce the English nation generally.

I was looking for something to throw at him.
"You English--you Englishman, yes," he repeated.
And then I understood he had merely intended a question.