There is somewhat of a running joke that the French and surrendering go together like cheese and wine, or anything else that is a perfect match. It seems that their own language does not help when it comes to trying to put across a different perspective.
According to linguistic experts, the French language has a staggering 17 different words or phrases that, when translated, basically means to surrender. This just feels like the Eskimo having a number of words to describe snow, but you can see why it is unable to contradict the ideas and theories that people have surrounding the French and giving up on things far too easily.
Of course, they do not use all 17 different terms, and you could look at your own language and find that there are variations of sayings, certain terms or words, so this is no different.