"The English are all white."

[doubledolphins]

Last friday morning flying south through Brest the controller had a momentary stuck mic. Part of the conversation that I overheard was the controller stating to his colleague that "Les Anglais sont tous blanc". Silly question I know, but would this be an ATC term or was he just expressing his view on the new England rugby kit?

[Danscowpie]

The only new England rugby Union "away" kit is for the World Cup and is "all black" not "all white". Since the French are not well known for their sense of irony, I doubt it referred to that.
However, there's a first time for everything....;)

[BrATCO]

Not sure about the discussion my colleagues were having then.

Was that a male or a female on freq ?

Rugby could be a good guess.
I've got no clue about the English national rugby team's colors...:confused:
I believe Danscowpie.

Could be the English eggs color. First time I went to England, I was surprised to discover all-white eggs (the shell).
Our (French) eggs' color is somewhere half way between white and clear braun, kind of yellow(ish). This color ("coquille d'oeuf") is used as a name to describe this color when talking about paint. Not very different from straw, but not exactly the same either.
White eggs are so exotic for us...

Could be a reference to English tourists in the region.
We've got plenty of them here.
Brest is on the Atlantic coast, not far South from England, but far enough. Not on the Channel, so we benefit a better weather most of the time.
English tourists are renowned for their inablility to get any suntanned.
Of course, as any other generalisation, this is a legend...

In a geo-political discussion, "they are all white" can mean (in French) that the English are (or pretend they are) not guilty, or not responsible for a situation.
Not responsible seems to me more likely : the English can not be responsible for anything, anyway... :}

Could be the colour of lighthouses.
Maybe all the English lighthouses are painted white, when French ones are made of gray granite.

Many other possible discussion subjects don't spring to my mind yet.

[Tower Ranger]

Maybe they were watching the Boks playing the Kiwis and wondering why the Kiwis were wearing all white after all Les Anglaise sont tous Blanc.

[EGLL19791986]

Well it certainly couldn't be a reference to the ethnic makeup of the UK, since white people are in a minority these days!!!

[ATC Watcher]

Ah , interpretations and translations ;

les Anglais sont tous blancs
or
les Anglais sont ou, Blanc ? ( where are the english, + name )
or
les Anglais sont doublant... ( are overtating )
etc....
:E

[BrATCO]

I hadn't thought about this possibility of bad transmission via radio.

What about "Les Anglais sont troublants" (thrilling or unsettling) ?