法国人骨子里是传统主义者。虽然他们深爱革命，喜欢推翻一切之后从头再来，但他们却不赞同任何不符合规矩的行为。事事都要按规矩办，结婚、醉酒是这样，填鸭、填表是这样，书写信封、称呼老师也是这样。事情都有既定的规矩，而这些规矩是由法国人自己定的。
The French are at heart traditionalists. Though they dearly love revolutions, pulling everything down and starting from scratch, they disapprove of shifts in behavior. Everything must be done commeilfaut (properly), an expression that applies equally to getting married and getting drunk, stuffing a duck and filling in a form, addressing an envelope and addressing a teacher. There is an established order of things, and the order was established by the French.
(Source: wwenglish.com)