But, damn, what should we think about this......

French Government Bans Term 'E-Mail'

July 18, 2003 11:05 AM EDT


PARIS - 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.

Some Internet industry experts say the decision is artificial and doesn't reflect reality.

"The word 'courriel' is not at all actively used," Marie-Christine Levet, president of French Internet service provider Club Internet, said Friday. "E-mail has sunk in to our values."

She said Club Internet wasn't changing the words it uses.

"Protecting the language is normal, but e-mail's so assimilated now that no one thinks of it as American," she said. "Courriel would just be a new word to launch."

You should note that this is not some stupid restaurant owners doing this.
This is their government!

Can you imagine if our government was petty and insecure enough to do the same - no more "Genuine Faux Pearls"!

JaNell wrote:Can you imagine if our government was petty and insecure enough to do the same - no more "Genuine Faux Pearls"!

you mean like french to freedom fries?

Our government would never be that petty... they wouldn't change the names of anything... like Freedom Fries.... *scoff*

faeriegirl wrote:

JaNell wrote:Can you imagine if our government was petty and insecure enough to do the same - no more "Genuine Faux Pearls"!

you mean like french to freedom fries?

You mean like, sarcasm?

*laughs and hugs JaNell* Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this whole think is fucking hillarious.

MahoganyDawn wrote:*laughs and hugs JaNell* Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this whole think is fucking hillarious.

Hell, I posted it...... It must be funny......

And, just for the record, "Freedom Fries" was not something our government did, but who really cares?!?

Anyway, I just thought this to be funny.

Hmmm...

I look at the thread title, and then read the first post.

I see that SirDiddy's scared I may give him a French tongue-lashing.

*MUHUHUWAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!* I've succeeded in scaring the Goths, too!

I think you would see this anytime a language is dieing and a national identity is based on it....Actually it has alsways been the goverment that has been inforcing these rules they even have language police that patrol the cityies looking for violaters (French canada also dose this).

Could it be.... French Language Nazis?

Sir Diddimus wrote:And, just for the record, "Freedom Fries" was not something our government did, but who really cares?!?

yes, it is something our government did.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2842493.stm

Since I've excelled at the French language my entire life, was married a Frenchman, and been to France many times, I can add some interesting comments here:

The French DO use SOME English words in their everyday lexicon. A couple of examples: le tee shirt, le blue-jean

However, they USED to use "le computer" but changed it when I was in high school to l'ordinateur, and that did stick.

It seems that in many languages, we tend to adapt (if the word is EASY) the word or phrase originally used in the language in which that item was invented. This goes ESPECIALLY for things by which the whole world is united, and the internet is one of those things, as is email. It is funny, however, that the term "internet" has not been disputed by the French government and that they seem to be okay with that. I think perhaps because it is more of a proper name (so I guess I should be capitalizing it) and not so much a description, as is email. Since French people who do not speak English wouldn't normally know what "mail" is, it does make a tiny bit of sense to use a French word associated with mail, like courrier. However, the argument against that is, why do Americans who do not know French be expected to use terms like "faux pas," "coup d'etat," "laissez-faire," etc.?

You know what really gets me, though? Why in the world do we call Japan "Japan" and not the word the Japanese use for their own country, which is "Nippon"? We do this for lots of countries. And other countries (like France) use different words for other countries, too, like calling England "L'Angleterre." THAT is my concern. The people that live in the country should get to name it and we should all have to call it the same thing. Doesn't that make sense?

This is a great topic. Thanks, SirD!

Stinky French. I fart in their general direction!

(:P Nexxus)

iblis wrote:Stinky French. I fart in their general direction!

(:P Nexxus)

*...marmotte... Britanniques fichus d'imitation... marmotte marmotte... vous pensez que vous êtes si malin... marmotte marmotte marmotte...*

Mother Mo wrote:Could it be.... French Language Nazis?

rofl... Exactly what i was thinking when i read that!

lol.... viva la resistance!

It's true that everywhere people try to preserve their ovn lexion but for example:
The difference betveen Finland and French is that both countries have somekind of institution for this purpose
but in Finland they just give advise try to encourage Finns to use finish based words
but in French they can punish officials for using foreign based words.

correct me if i am wrong

torch_32 wrote:You know what really gets me, though? Why in the world do we call Japan "Japan" and not the word the Japanese use for their own country, which is "Nippon"? We do this for lots of countries. And other countries (like France) use different words for other countries, too, like calling England "L'Angleterre." THAT is my concern. The people that live in the country should get to name it and we should all have to call it the same thing. Doesn't that make sense?

Vienna= Wien, Moscow= Moscava(spell) Venice is something I cant rember, Turkey= Turkuee (err spell) Germany=Duetchland

Johnathan brought this up in nash goth ,.
again I make this suggestion .
We bomb them with soap , then a ground assault with scrub brushes. and further more , Mass attitudeectomies for the Parisians .

IMO, the idiots who decreed that we call French Fries "Freedom Fries", the French offals, excuse me, officials who banned the term "e-mail", and the White Rose can retourne enculer les mouches.



And probably do, which would explain the high BS content involved all 'round.