Well, I've heard that once this way. The English have at least two words for everything. One local, and one to statisfy their needs for culture and to come across as being somewhat civillized. The latter version was imported from the continent (read France).

Seriously, though: lots of English is distinctly imported language. Basically a new etnic group settles in England (which has happened quite a few times) and their language kinda blends into the local one. So English contains lot's of perfectly redundant leftovers. However, most of it is not something to worry about in your everyday English conversation, be it written or spoken.