the Free French during the war.In France, le général de Gaulle is now the most widely used term to refer to de Gaulle. Most avenues or streets which are called after de Gaulle use this term (e.g. avenue du général de Gaulle), but there are some exceptions, such as Charles de Gaulle Airport (aéroport de Roissy-Charles de Gaulle). In left-wing municipalities, when naming streets, Charles de Gaulle is sometimes preferred over général de Gaulle, a term that has always irked the left, even though it is used all across the political spectrum nowadays. People who itch at the military, or who want to distance themselves from de Gaulle, use Charles de Gaulle instead of général de Gaulle. Charles de Gaulle is supposedly more neutral, but général de Gaulle is now so widely accepted that using Charles de Gaulle in conversation definitely carries a feeling of distance, or covert criticism. One could guess the feeling of someone toward Gaullism simply by watching whether they use général de Gaulle or Charles de Gaulle. le Président de Gaulle was mainly used in formal circumstances when he was president. le Général ("the general"): This is used by people most devoted to de Gaulle, especially people who personally knew him, or worked under him. This was the term used by the ministers of de Gaulle when they referred to him in private. They would never have said le président. There is a feeling of partisanship (and now, nostalgia) attached to the word, and consequently isn't one used by his critics. In France, when the phrase le général is used alone, it is almost always understood as meaning de Gaulle. This phrase is nowadays hardly ever used except by elderly Gaullist supporters. mon général: This was used by ministers of de Gaulle and by his close supporters when addressing de Gaulle, but also by most journalists in the regular press interviews he gave ever since 1944. His critics most commonly used Monsieur le président instead. mongénéral: This was, and still is, used by satirical publications such as the Canard Enchaîné to caricature the devotion and, according to those publications, blind obedience and ideologic conformity that de Gaulle's followers had. de Gaulle: This is used nowadays to refer to de Gaulle as a historical character, often with a tone of praise or respect, such as recent book C'était de Gaulle ("Thus was de Gaulle"). In colloquial conversation,