Miscellaneous > The Lounge
French government bans 'E-mail'.
NikS:
quoting
Laukev7
***
France is not the only country that attempts to find native words. Germany, Russia and Iceland are making some efforts as well, I've heard. In German, the word 'disk space' is 'Speicher', and 'saving' is 'speichern'.
***
/quoting
Frankly speaking, most of those "native words" were adapted from English. (Russian PC slang took lots from English, for example, "hard drive" is "hard", "site" is "site", "E-mail" is "E-mail" or "milo" (which, by the way, is translated as "soap" )) Yeah, we do translate the words, but I never heard of "banning" or anything like that. (Maybe I just need to watch the TV more often ). To "ban" a word... Sounds weird... :confused:
Laukev7:
quote: No offense but unless I'm missing something here that's a really stupid law. For once I find myself in startling agreeance with Macman - the French aren't doing themselves any favours by trying to remove the impact of other cultures.
--- End quote ---
You don't understand our situation. Fifty years ago, you had to speak English if you wanted a job, and store clerks wouldn't even address to you in French even if they understood the language. The 101 law stipulates that you may display in English or any language of your choice, as long as a French version is clearly visible and predominates. For example, on a signpost, French must be displayed first, then any other languages. And, of course, immigrants who come to Quebec must learn our language if they haven't already learnt English.
It's not about removing the impact of other cultures, and we do occasionally recognise English words as part of our language. What we're trying to prevent is the excessive use of English words which can easily be replaced by native words -- for example, saying 'canceller' when 'annuler' is just as good. (Yes, I know that 'canceller' comes from Old French, but this was just an example).
TheQuirk:
Hebrew doesn't need any of this rubbish. (I'm kidding, of course.)
Almost everything is called "software". I'm not kidding. You throw a bunch of magnets at your hard drive while pissing on your motherboard? Oh, don't worry. It's a "software problem". (Well, it's not that bad, but it's getting there!)
Laukev7:
In French, the official term for 'software' is << logiciel >>. Most people, though, just call them << programmes >>.
For French speakers, here is a list of names given for various types of applications:
http://www.leburelain.com/textes/glossaire.htm
Pissed_Macman:
quote:Originally posted by Faust:
Meh he he. Here in Australia the definition of an area for "local calls" is about the size of Britain. Come to think of it most of our states are bigger than Britain too. You guys need some bigger turf. :D :D
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I find it hard to believe that a country that can fit inside Wyoming was a mighty empire. Can't they invade Spain and just deport everyone there to Mexico or something?
[ July 21, 2003: Message edited by: Macman: pimpin da streets o seattle ]
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