In the 19th Century, [Daniel Karlin] says, France had just coined the derogative term "anglomanie," meaning "anglomania," which Karlin defines as "an excessive adoration for Englishness, whether in politics, social behavior, philosophy, or literature." Yet many French associated English with social prestige and sophistication (the way, ironically, many Americans do French words and French food). Proust's characters, Karlin says, illustrate this tension between admiration and fear of Englishness in the way they use English.