French Ban the term E-Mail...

[DRT-Maverick]

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 seven-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.



Read More... (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/07/18/france.email.ap/index.html)


This is gettin' on my nerves...

[Zarkazm]

I am fine with courriel.

[Ferd]

preserving a language is nothing bad..

although this "step" was kinda ummm extreme

[Beowolf]

How can they ban a word? Crazy french :rolleyes:

[Wild Weasel]

How can they ban a word? Crazy french :rolleyes:


Easy. (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/07/18/france.email.ap/index.html)

[Balton]

why not? definitely suits the french phonems better than "email".

[Selerox]

It's odd that the reverse isn't true. We don't call a croissant "bendy bread" or something because we don't want to let french words into the english laguage.

French speakers - get over it, it's a technical term :)

While you're at it, reming the French air traffic control service that English is the international air traffic control language. So quit refusing to speak English, and you might have less lethal collisions in French airspace/airports.

[DeMachina]

For one, the word "courriel" has existed for a very long time. I'm actually surprised it wasn't already in use yet. It's obvious that using "e-mail" in any official French government paper was a mistake.

As for "e-mail" being a technical word... :rolleyes:
Adding an "e-" in front of "mail" sure makes you forget that "mail" is in english.

[Ferd]

It's odd that the reverse isn't true. We don't call a croissant "bendy bread" or something because we don't want to let french words into the english laguage.

good point

but remember that the US has no official language (i think)

[DRT-Maverick]

email is an international word, not an american or english word. It's international, it's what helps countries link together.

Besides changing the word to something else isn't preserving the language, it's just adding onto it.

[ZenPirate]

Courriel certainly sounds more fluid in a sentence.

[DRT-Maverick]

but it sounds too much like some sort of font.

[DeMachina]

hahaha, an "international word".
What's next, an "international language" while you're at it. :lol:

[the~oreca]

That's the word for e-mail in French, it has nothing to do with technical speach or whatever.
When we would have to write the word "e-mail" in a essay it had to be "courriel". It's been like that for oh, lets say 4 years now.
I don't see why making a word the official word to say for and "e-mail" would get anyone on their nerves, what this does is make sure everyone knows what they are talking about. From what I see this was to be used in legal documents and stuff, they don't mean, the people are banned from saying or using it or typing or anything, it's just from now on it is to be reffered as a "courriel" it makes alot of sence to me anyways.
Maybe that's because I speak french, but whatever.
I don't see what the big fuss is about really.
And yes it helps preserving the language... Think about it, if no one has to use an english word in a french sentence it preserves it. It's simple.

[W0RF]

If they really wanted to serve the public trust they would have banned the word "surrender"

[Zarkazm]

It's odd that the reverse isn't true. We don't call a croissant "bendy bread" or something because we don't want to let french words into the english laguage.
You just rename French Fries. :p

[Original9]

You just rename French Fries. :p

America did, not England.

[DRT-Maverick]

But there's a difference between some hick out there calling French Fries Freedom fries and having that catch on, than having an entire government BAN a word because it's 'american'.

[DRT-Maverick]

hahaha, an "international word".
What's next, an "international language" while you're at it. :lol:


Why the hell not? It'll cut the middle crap out.

[Erika]

Why don't we just rename French/Freedom Fries to simply Fries?

[Zarkazm]

America did, not England.
As I have been reminded on occasion, this is first of all an American community. So when someone throws "We"s around, I go for that.


Why don't we just rename French/Freedom Fries to simply Fries?
Do as you please. I call 'em Pommes anyway. ;)

[DRT-Maverick]

Why don't we just rename French/Freedom Fries to simply Fries?

I call em fries, it's easier to say. :P

Who cares what country it came from, use it how it is. I never called them freedom fries, I called the people who called them that idiots.

[Mxtrmntr]

Courriel sounds better, definitely ;) But, DeMachina's post doesn't clarify this 100% -- which word was used more often so far? Who used which one, and when?

[Freon]

i'm kinda tired of that. everywhere i go i see thei stupid news. so i'll make it clear for you: the word e mail is NOT banned. you can used it if you like it, i've never used couriel and i'll nver use it :rolleyes:
this kind of law have existed since 1995, when Toubon, the french culture minister tried to find a french equivalent for all the english words we had. but these laws were never enforced. you can used from time to time stupid terms like "coup de pied de coin" use to replace "corner" in football. or cédérom (to replace CDRom) but that's all.
if somebody wants to replace the word email by couriel on their websites (the govt will) it's fine. but nothing forces you to do so.

[Doc_EDo]

e-mail (electronic mail) has been translated long time ago to many languages. Here in Europe each language has their own traslation of "electronic mail".

Dunno why the ban, but I'm sure Fox will use that somehow for the daily bashing and brainwashing. Maybe it was the French answer to "freedom" crap?

About "international word":
Egos of previous/present imperialist countries are just too boring. They think everyone should speek THEIR language. Pff, whatta bunch of n00bs. I cant even count how many times I've heard Americans stating that they are leaders of the free world, or English stating that Shakespeare was the greatest writer in the history, Germans stating that they are smartest, French thinking that someone cares what they think etc...
Those "important wannabies" never stop the bs.
Speak so ppl understand you, cuz that's the only thing important here, and leave the imperialist megalomania out of it.

Grammar creators can be very stupid.
I know here in Sweden they took the word "web" into the language as a new word, BUT they changed spelling to webb (2 b's). WHY? It's a word originally from english and they change the spelling just with 2 b's??? Just because someone that never heard the word may read and pronounce it wrong?
They spell baguette as it is but change web to webb.
Those ppl that work on forming the language are retarded. :rolleyes: :mad:

[Freon]

Doc_EDo you should read all the posts before posting ;)
i told that kind of laws have existed since 95, waaaaay before that freedom crap. and that it's NOT a ban

[Doc_EDo]

I was writing my post when you posted.

[Selerox]

As I have been reminded on occasion, this is first of all an American community. So when someone throws "We"s around, I go for that.

Actually, if I remember correctly, BuF users are split pretty much down the middle between North America and Europe. So although this is a US based site, it's user-base is very much global.

Do as you please. I call 'em Pommes anyway. ;)

Whats the difference between a petri dish and Australia?

Left on it's own, a petri dish will eventually develop culture :D

[PsychoMoggieBagpuss]

hahaha, an "international word".
What's next, an "international language" while you're at it. :lol:

I take it you never heard of the failed attempt of "Esperanto" then?

[Syri]

here's a remarkable suggestion. those that want to call it Courriel can, and those that want to call it e-mail can also. make both right, no more problem. having a french translaion of a term is good for the french language, as it shows it is still a growing evolving language. banning any other possible translation from being used however is just plain stupid

[ApostleX3000]

Courriel??

Sorry, I'll always call it e-mail, but I'm not from France or Quebec (thank god).

[Jesco]

But there's a difference between some hick out there calling French Fries Freedom fries and having that catch on, than having an entire government BAN a word because it's 'american'.
Last time I checked, there is no such thing as an american language. It's called 'english' ;) However, I don't see why there is something wrong with the french government using courriel instead of e-mail. The french are somewhat sensitive regarding their culture, so what. And it's not that it's a felony to use the word e-mail in France.

[Balton]

it's easier to stick to one language while talking. it's always a bit uncomfortable to stop for a millisecond then pronounce and english word just to stop again and change the different phonemic sounds in your mind again. at least for me. staying the entire time in german helps talking fluently!

[BesigedB]

/me is disturbed at the amount of uninformed anti-french opinion in the US.

[Iron Archer]

how the hell would we rename "deja-vu"?

anti-french? ha, I'm surprised at the lack of anti-french sentiment in europe, with all the fuss they have caused through history

[DeMachina]

This can't be compared at all with "French Fries" being renamed to "freedom fries". Since they only went from one english word to another.

Why the hell not? It'll cut the middle crap out.

"The middle crap"? What would that be? Everything that is not comming from the almighty American culture? PRAISE AMERIKA! :rolleyes:



it's easier to stick to one language while talking. it's always a bit uncomfortable to stop for a millisecond then pronounce and english word just to stop again and change the different phonemic sounds in your mind again. at least for me. staying the entire time in german helps talking fluently!
But if you've ever talked to France's French, they don't bother pronouncing english word right, they simply pronounce it with their French accent.

[RaptoR]

I still don't see how this can be classed as 'banning' the term.. what are they going to do, start fining people who use the term 'e-mail'?

[Mxtrmntr]

how the hell would we rename "deja-vu"?

anti-french? ha, I'm surprised at the lack of anti-french sentiment in europe, with all the fuss they have caused through history

"they"

[Jesco]

anti-french? ha, I'm surprised at the lack of anti-french sentiment in europe, with all the fuss they have caused through history
That is a truly intelligent statement. Or should I say, "This is the most stupid thing I've heard in a while"? Go and get some decent brain. :tdown:

[LordKhaine]

it's easier to stick to one language while talking. it's always a bit uncomfortable to stop for a millisecond then pronounce and english word just to stop again and change the different phonemic sounds in your mind again. at least for me.

Pfffffft, those crazy Dutch people seem to manage English words dotted here and there. And that language is far harder to speak then French.

And might I add which this move is very French, no-one should be suprised by it. After all, didn't they make a new french word for @ since most French people said "at"?

[Balton]

Pfffffft, those crazy Dutch people seem to manage English words dotted here and there. And that language is far harder to speak then French.

And might I add which this move is very French, no-one should be suprised by it. After all, didn't they make a new french word for @ since most French people said "at"?

"...far harder to speak THAN french."
;)

it's still not as fluently as it should be!

[Mxtrmntr]

it's still not as fluently as it should be!

"fluent". Or you forgot a verb's -ing form :p

[Ferd]

things like this happen in every country with an own language, in spain happens too...
it is something normal and common...
it has nothing to do with "ban", obviously CNN chosed that word to seed even more hate towards the french from part of uninformed people.

[Doc_EDo]

how the hell would we rename "deja-vu"?
anti-french? ha, I'm surprised at the lack of anti-french sentiment in europe, with all the fuss they have caused through history
Yes, the French are very egotistic nation and I remember how they supported Serbs in the war in Bosnia, enough to be lynched and nuked IMO. But such criticism shouldn't be comming from USA just because right wingers hate freedom of speech, and since you need to clean up in your own house, first.

[Sam_The_Man]

Yes, the French are very egotistic nation and I remember how they supported Serbs in the war in Bosnia, enough to be lynched and nuked IMO. But such criticism shouldn't be comming from USA just because right wingers hate freedom of speech, and since you need to clean up in your own house, first.

When the hell did we nuke the French because they supported the Serbs?

Oh, and don't worry about Deadpool. We just keep him around because sometimes we need someone to make our taxi-cab-informed opinions look balanced and reasonable.

[Jesco]

Oh, and don't worry about Deadpool. We just keep him around because sometimes we need someone to make our taxi-cab-informed opinions look balanced and reasonable.
That's one way of seeing it. He only makes me aggressive... even putting him on my ignore-list doesn't work anymore...
:o










;)

[DRT-Maverick]

"The middle crap"? What would that be? Everything that is not comming from the almighty American culture? PRAISE AMERIKA! :rolleyes:

But if you've ever talked to France's French, they don't bother pronouncing english word right, they simply pronounce it with their French accent.

Oh shuttup you know what I mean, not english, not french, not german, just a new language all of it's own created by the entire world. Duh.

[das_ben]

anti-french? ha, I'm surprised at the lack of anti-french sentiment in europe, with all the fuss they have caused through history

I realize I'm not the first to mention it, but this statement is just stupid. You can't blame the French people of today for something that happened 200 years ago or for something the French government is responsible for. Going with your statement, every man should hate several other nations, peoples or groups just because they, or people affiliated with them, happened to fuck up in the past.

[Myrmidion]

I just have to ask the underlying question here, Jaunie - why on earth does this 'piss you off'? (I'd obtain a more accurate quote, but the latest replies thingummmy doesn't go to the first post :)) I'm just waiting for the article to load so that I can get more substantial information on what's going on, but by the sounds of it...aha:

The Culture Ministry has announced a ban on the use of "e-mail" in all government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites

Now, how often are you in the mood to read Govermental websites? How often do you curl up with a nice mug of tea and the latest draft of the 'Rights of Access' regulation? This is completely regardless of the fact that the websites that I have just checked (the Ministery of Agriculture, INRA and 'Le Control Latier' -which I can only assume is milk control) are all in French. If you know enough French to be able to read these webpages, then I pretty sure that you would be able to read the word 'courriel' as 'e-mail' or you'll be able to add it to your lexicon with little to no trouble.

It seems to me that it would be common sense for the Governmental files, documents, and webpages of a country would be the places where the language of the country would be the most controlled - this does not affect the French people, the rest of France, and I can't concieve of any way where it would affect you (although please feel free to correct me here ;).

[Edit:]Better say that this was originally posted by Deadpool, and is not directed at anyone else: Anti-french? ha, I'm surprised at the lack of anti-french sentiment in europe, with all the fuss they have caused through history

As for this, I would imagine that there's less anti-french sentiment then (you) would expect because we are all painfully aware that we all have skeletons in our closets. Take the English for example - the Boer War (where we essentially allowed a large number of people to starve to death in concentration camps), or the Battle of Culloden, which was a slaughter so totally unwarranted that the companies who served there are not allowed to list it on their battle honours.
I could go on, and comment on, say, the Germans for the two massive wars that rocked Europe sixty years ago - but for the fact that they happened sixty years ago. Holding a grudge over a generation doesn't exactly make a lot of sense - it's just petty and vindictive.

So, in conclusion - sure, the French are egotistical, highly territorial, and can sometimes dig their heels in and appear to be stubborn to the point of insanity - but then I'd be forced to confess that we're all, in truth, the same, and I still don't see why the enforcement that all French ministerial documents should be in French would irritate someone almost seven thousand miles away. :)

[Zarkazm]

You can't blame the French people of today for something that happened 200 years ago or for something the French government is responsible for.
Like helping the American colonists to gain independence. ;)

[the~oreca]

Thank you Myrmidion you are my ****ing hero.

I think we are they only two here who actually understood that.
Some people sure over-react here...

[Iron Archer]

FYI Sam_T_M, I was just responding to BesigedB's comment about "anti-french opinion" in the U.S. Well, why don't you lynch me for having any kind of opinion on any topic, why don't you?
I sure as hell don't condemn you for having opinions that I don't agree with. In fact I'll give you reasons why I don't agree with you, but I'm not going to belittle you for it. Then again, maybe that's why I live in the U.S. and you live in England.

[masamax]

Oh shuttup you know what I mean, not english, not french, not german, just a new language all of it's own created by the entire world. Duh.

Yes, as it was mentioned, Esperanto was tried, and failed.

Besides, it's the vastness of languages that helps define and maintain the culture. Sure we might be different, and languages offer a barrier, but they are also what helps define us as people. Frankly, I don't think I would like living in a world where everyone spoke and thought in the same language. That only leads on the path to a total cultural whitewash.

[-Penfold-]

Why don't they just pronounce it different?

Instead of "EE-mayl"

how about "eh-may-EL" That sound's french. And you can spell it email.

But really, who cares? If the french want to keep they're language sounding french, why not let them? puh-tay-toh, puh-tah-toh. It's the public that really decides anyway. I don't expect "Freedom fries" to catch on. If the new term catches on so be it, and if it doesn't, so be it.

[W0RF]

google + "french military victories" + I'm Feeling Lucky button = win.

[Ferd]

Yes, as it was mentioned, Esperanto was tried, and failed.

Besides, it's the vastness of languages that helps define and maintain the culture. Sure we might be different, and languages offer a barrier, but they are also what helps define us as people. Frankly, I don't think I would like living in a world where everyone spoke and thought in the same language. That only leads on the path to a total cultural whitewash.
yep, each language offers you a different way of thinking, a different way of seeing the world... and it's not an exageration

[ApostleX3000]

google + "french military victories" + I'm Feeling Lucky button = win.

LOL!

[NeoNite]

Jesco, your avatar: Sophie marceau !!!
That is one pretty lady :D

[kerilk]

Blast !!!!
I use the term e-mail all day long!
Maybe the government is going to sue me for that.
But no, we found a way around : it is not an email anymore it is just a mail.
Not with the generally accepted meaning in english but who cares...
"J'ai un mail ..."
"Je te mail ..."
It is not a noum anymore it has become a verb.

More seriously, no one in france will be using courriel except to make his buddies laught.
If politicians are happy trying to make us believe they protect our culture by changing some terms in administrative document then let them do. At the least this is pretty harmless.:lol:

I too believe that a language is also a way of thinking. The way we make our sentences, reveal how we think. But the vocabulary is constantly beeing exchanged between culture and this is an enrichment rather than a disapearance of the culture. Putting something into immobilism is trying to kill it......

[Doc_EDo]

google + "french military victories" + I'm Feeling Lucky button = win.
You could call that "Fox News was here". :rolleyes:

[W0RF]

You could call that "Fox News was here". :rolleyes:
Maybe instead of following the aforementioned formula, you could do a search for "Sense of Humor". It's free and easy to install and use.

[Jesco]

Jesco, your avatar: Sophie marceau !!!
That is one pretty lady :D
Sure she is! And, how fitting, she's french. ;)