| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
kimo
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
Posts: 668
|
 Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2003 11:54 pm Post subject: Those French are at it again. Now we can't use e-mail. |
 |
|
When will they ever stop? They just want to make learning French a lifelong process. English is full of French words. Let's give them all back and every time we come to a French derived word let's just insert "freedom." Mon Dieu! I mean freedom freedom.
DISCLAIMER: For those who are somewhat challenged by the foregoing, it is a joke.
PARIS (AP) - Goodbye ``e-mail'', the French government says, and hello ``courriel'' - the term that linguistically sensitive France is now using to refer to electronic mail in official documents.
The Culture Ministry has announced a ban on the use of ``e-mail'' in all government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites, the latest step to stem an incursion of English words into the French lexicon.
The ministry's General Commission on Terminology and Neology insists Internet surfers in France are broadly using the term ``courrier electronique'' (electronic mail) instead of e-mail - a claim some industry experts dispute. ``Courriel'' is a fusion of the two words.
``Evocative, with a very French sound, the word 'courriel' is broadly used in the press and competes advantageously with the borrowed 'mail' in English,'' the commission has ruled.
The move to ban ``e-mail'' was announced last week after the decision was published in the official government register on June 20. Courriel is a term that has often been used in French-speaking Quebec, the commission said.
The 7-year-old commission has links to the Academie Francaise, the prestigious institution that has been one of the top opponents of allowing English terms to seep into French.[/i] |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
dyak
Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 630
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 9:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
And so they should, there are already way too many bland 'English' words polluting French as it is. 'E-mail' especially, it just sounds out of place in a French accent... French is like music, when you're speaking it and you have to use one of those words it just sounds like a wrong note.
What's wrong with a language (and not exactly a minority one) wanting to retain its individuality? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
The Gimp
Joined: 07 Jun 2003
Posts: 15
Location: China
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 9:10 am Post subject: |
|
|
| dyak wrote: |
| French is like music, when you're speaking it |
No it isn't! It's like choking. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dyak
Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 630
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 11:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
| The Gimp wrote: |
| No it isn't! It's like choking. |
I think you'll find that's German... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dduck
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 422
Location: In the middle
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 4:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| dyak wrote: |
| The Gimp wrote: |
| No it isn't! It's like choking. |
I think you'll find that's German... |
You obviously have never studied Dutch. German is a breeze by comparison. 
Iain |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 7:23 pm Post subject: To e-mail or not... |
|
|
In Spanish you can use "correo-e."
Presumably every word that's prefixed that way should also be translated, for example, "e-commerce."
Would reading the poetry of e. e. cummings online be regarded as e-e. e. cummings? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
khmerhit
Joined: 31 May 2003
Posts: 1874
Location: Reverse Culture Shock Unit
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2003 7:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
e-excellent!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
