French saying : Rosbif

[sloperton]

An English colleague who visits France regularly, and speaks fairly good French, has reported that he often refers to himself in friendly company (somewhat self-deprecatingly) as a 'rosbif'. He had imagined that this might be similar to a French person in England referring to him/herself as a 'Froggy'. He has been slightly surprised, however, at the rather politely shocked expressions on his French friends' faces. As this has been the repeated reaction, he wonders if he is missing some nuance in the usage of this (very old) phrase (dates at least from Hogarth early-mid 18th century)

Any ideas anyone?

[spithray]

I was led to believe that it was simply a variation of 'roast beef' used as a slang name for English folk because of our fondness for roast dinners.  If that is true then I suppose it would be like a French person referring to themselves as a 'froggy'.  They are both derived from the countries' perceived eating habits.

[SteveD]

It's probably because the French people in whose company he refers to himself as a "rosbif" are (a) surprised that he knows the expression and (b) are embarrassed that he knows that the French refer to the English as "rosbifs".

Would you not be surprised if a French person referred to himself as a "Frog" or a German called himself a "Kraut"?