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 : I originally assumed that the version of the story I heard (that in the passage from ""we shall fight on the beaches"" to ""we shall never surrender"", all the words are from Old English roots, except 'surrender' which is from French) was a joke (someone having a poke at the French) - but it's absolutely correct! 
 : I checked this all out in the Online Etymological Dictionary, and every word in that clip is from Old English - with the exception of 'surrender' which is indeed from Old French! (And apologies to anyone with French ancestry/links - I have not forgotten Verdun). 
 : Since this is an interesting factoid (well, the Old English part, not the part about 'surrender'), and since it is something that seems to come up often (particularly as that section of this speech is so universally known), I think it's worth mentioning in the article, something along the lines of: 
 :: In the very-well known passage from the peroration, from ""we shall fight on the beaches"" to ""we shall never surrender"", every single word is from Old English roots, except the very last. 
 : I know Wikipedia is not Snopes, but it's i) true, and ii) something people might come here to look for an answer about, so I would think it belongs. Comments?   02:46, 10 February 2011"