this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2025
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"STDs come from anyone except us!" - Everyone (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 days ago by PugJesus@lemmy.world to c/historymemes@lemmy.world
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[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 22 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That really deadly Spanish flu that happened during WW1 didn't even start near Spain. They were just the first ones to publicly be all like "hey, there's something going around killing a lot of people or getting them really sick really fast".

Most likely, as near as anyone trying to track down the origin of the Spanish flu is that it started in a small Kansas farm town and spread from there to the Fulton Kansas army training base, and on over to France.

It killed around 50,000,000 people. Had there been no war, it likely never would have even made it out of that Kansas town with like 1,000 people in it.

[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

God dang americans infecting everyone and then blaming it on the spanish because they were neutral and it was not in the national interest to hide the flu because of war.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago

TBF, at the time, no one actually knew where it came from. Decades went by before it was mostly deciphered that it likely came from the US.

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 28 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's actually the American disease. It was spread throughout Europe by people who raped the indiginous populations.

[–] Velypso@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Europeans rape natives in North America

akshually its the victims fault we had syphilis

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Who said that?

[–] Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What they're saying is calling it "the American Disease" because Europeans raped the natives of the Americas, sounds like you're blaming the natives for the disease

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

Would it help if we rebranded smallpox as "the Eurasian disease"?

Anyway, it wasn't my intention to blame anyone. I called it the American disease because it came from the Americas. I made sure to point out that it was rapists who brought it to Europe, so I don't really care for the way I was characterized. I don't think there was nearly enough there to accuse me of victim blaming.

[–] plyth@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

implied from the title

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I didn't get that from the title, and it has nothing to do with the post you were replying to. I didn't blame anyone but the rapists. It's the American disease because it's native to the Americas.

[–] plyth@feddit.org 0 points 3 days ago

It's the French desease because it comes from France. That's always the logic. But we only do it because we want to associate our enemies with the bad stuff. It could have been called Syphilis all the time.

So if it's called the American desease the blame is put on the rape victim.

[–] KSPAtlas@sopuli.xyz 10 points 3 days ago

The polish one is incorrect at least, it was called the french disease (Franca) or kiła

[–] hOrni@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don't get it. Are we now calling it The Pitbull Disease?

[–] A7thStone@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I always knew pitbull was an STD.

[–] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

You always knew? I guess it's fair to say... ya tú sabe.

[–] HK65@sopuli.xyz 8 points 3 days ago

The Hungarian language still uses franc as a curse word as a result.

(It's pronounced kinda like "frantz")

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 9 points 3 days ago

So... Since according to the meme the Spanish Christians didn't shift the blame I guess it has to be them, right?

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 days ago

makes sense as they often came through the ports, from the sailors. so they seemed to be imported from elsewhere; in fact, it was a "sailor" thing, not a "foreign country" thing

[–] miked@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

But why is Pitbull the picture for this. Is he patient zero?

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 18 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Mr. Worldwide

[–] miked@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

Damn it.

[–] markz@suppo.fi 1 points 3 days ago

I can believe that.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Dalé

[–] ultraviolence@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Exactly the first comment I was looking for!

[–] plyth@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago

Now do cockroaches

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cockroach

[–] Knuschberkeks@leminal.space 2 points 3 days ago

ot was called the french disease in german aswell

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Correct.