a Frenchman could say: "De Gaulle, c'était quelqu'un ! " ("De Gaulle, now that was a man!"). In French, calling someone by their family name alone is considered derogatory when they are alive, but it is considered normal for historical figures when they are dead. Monsieur Charles de Gaulle or Monsieur de Gaulle: This is very rarely used nowadays. The last time it was extensively used, was most likely when de Gaulle was in high school in the 1900s. His professors would have addressed him as Monsieur de Gaulle in formal circumstances, and as de Gaulle alone in informal circumstances. After high school, de Gaulle entered the military, and so he was addressed by his military rank at the time, followed by de Gaulle (lieutenant de Gaulle, etc.) Historical names le colonel Motors: This is how de Gaulle was called by jokers in the French military in the 1930s. De Gaulle's proposals that the French army should emphasize the use of tanks and armored vehicles were scorned by the high command. Consequently, de Gaulle was refused promotions to the rank of general, and remained a colonel until the fall of France in June 1940, when his theories eventually proved right. This nickname of colonel Motors is a play on the General Motors Corporation name that translates as "The Americans have the general Motors, we French must settle for the colonel Motors". In addition, the use of the English word "motor" was made on purpose to caricature de Gaulle as a reckless partisan of tanks because in French, English words had, and still have, a feeling of modernity, sometimes to the point of being too recklessly new. Gaulle: This is how the military leaders of Vichy France called de Gaulle. They were scornful of a two-star general who pretended to be the incarnation of France in London. They took away the apparently aristocratic particle "de" (see French names) to belittle de Gaulle. Gaulle is also homophonic with the French word "gaule", the long pole that is used to harvest walnuts. This French word can also be understood in slang as meaning "dumb". le grand Charles: This was used in political caricatures, referring to the tall height of de Gaulle (196 cm, 6'5"). Although used by caricaturists, there is often a friendly feeling to it, and it was used as the title for a 2006 TV-drama of his life. Nowadays, this phrase