France commits idiotic act to try to show it is superior to America... bans "e-mail"

[Vesayen]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/07/18/international1056EDT0544.DTL

In latest language defense, France bans term 'e-mail'

JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer Friday, July 18, 2003

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(07-18) 07:56 PDT 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.

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."





This is a blatent retailiation of our replacement of the term "French Fries" with "Freedom Fries".

[Pekka]

This is as smart as those freedom fries

[MikeH]

Don't be retarded. It's got nothing to do with America.

France is very proud and protective of it's language and culture. It's very strict about how it's language changes. It's always developing French words for English words that slip into the language. They have a special center that works on it and it's been around a lot longer than the ridiculous "freedom fries" thing.

[DarthVeda]

Perhaps you would like a little whine with your cheese?

[Sava]

I agree this is stupid, but it has little to do with America. The French are snobbish when it comes to their language.

[Velociryx]

Way to stem the tide of American Cultural Imperialism! WhoooHoooo!



-=Vel=-

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by MikeH
Don't be retarded. It's got nothing to do with America.

France is very proud and protective of it's language and culture. It's very strict about how it's language changes. It's always developing French words for English words that slip into the language. They have a special center that works on it and it's been around a lot longer than the ridiculous "freedom fries" thing.

Maybe, but it is a stupid move anyway....if the French terms are so widely used, why then ban the English word

[Dinner]

I don't know anyone nor any restaurant which ever used the term "Freedom Fries". One idiot does it, it makes the news, and the next thing you know half of Europe believes everyone in America has banished the word "French" from common usage.

[KrazyHorse]

Re: France commits idiotic act to try to show it is superior to America... bans "e-mail&amp

Originally posted by Vesayen

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/07/18/international1056EDT0544.DTL

In latest language defense, France bans term 'e-mail'

JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer Friday, July 18, 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



(07-18) 07:56 PDT 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.

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."





This is a blatent retailiation of our replacement of the term "French Fries" with "Freedom Fries".

Not likely. In Quebec the officially approved term from the Office de la Langue Francaise has been courriel for ages.

[DarthVeda]

This is the way of the French. Strict anti-foreign culture. Got to preserve the French culture.

That is distinctly anti-american since we try to absorb anything and everything. The great melting pot.

But France will never be anything but a nation of xenophobes.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I don't know anyone nor any restaurant which ever used the term "Freedom Fries". One idiot does it, it makes the news, and the next thing you know half of Europe believes everyone in America has banished the word "French" from common usage.

It might have something to do with the fact that one of the restaurants to do it was a cafeteria catering to congressmen and senators...

[Japher]

It's like changing the name of Candelstick Park to 3Com... Nobody ever called it 3Com, and poor John Madden never figured out what to call it

Renaming stuff is stupid.

I am going to generate a petition so that the word stupid can no longer be used. Instead, we will use the word French.

We are The Knights Who Say Nee... nuuuuu

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by DarthVeda
This is the way of the French. Strict anti-foreign culture. Got to preserve the French culture.

That is distinctly anti-american since we try to absorb anything and everything. The great melting pot.

But France will never be anything but a nation of xenophobes.

Talk about whining.

I'll remember this the next time I see some jackass knownothing spouting off about immigrants threatening America...

[PLATO]

The ministry's General Commission on Terminology and Neology

Nothing like a free country letting their people decide how to speak. "banned" the term e-mail? So much for freedom of speech in France.

[The diplomat]

I think the French government should worry about more important things like the state of the French economy, instead of stupid things like banning words you don't like.