Rebecca 0 #1 July 18, 2003 Sigh. So silly... (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. Parlez vous Francaise? you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrazyIvan 0 #2 July 18, 2003 QuoteSigh. So silly... What do you expect?...they're french!!!.__________________________________________ Blue Skies and May the Force be with you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laurel 0 #3 July 18, 2003 Wow, that's stupid to forbid people to use the term "Email." What bitter pansies...................................................................... PMS#28, Pelogrande Rodriguez#1074 My Pink M Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goose491 0 #4 July 18, 2003 Meh, I love to make fun... but I at least commend their dedication... I remember similar scandal about the word "Walkman" (Balladeur in French) Until it was decided that "Walkman" was a proper noun and thusly an international word. I guess you have to draw the line somewhere and then stick to it in order to preserve language and thusly culture... Particularily when you are surrounded by anglophones... funny nonetheless. My Karma ran over my Dogma!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuteless 1 #5 July 18, 2003 The Canadian Government is mostly made up of French Canadians who are striving to make French the dominant language in Canada. In Quebec, they even have language police, because they insist that stores and businesses are named in french, which must be in larger letters than English. You cannot have a business with an English name only. Most of the Cabinet ministers of the Government are French, and we even have to have 1 English national TV network and 1 French National network. They dont realize that French is a dying language...the sooner it dies, the better Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thethinker 0 #6 July 18, 2003 Je parle francais.....mais, ce nest pas un bon idee We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe. -Johann von Goethe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goose491 0 #7 July 18, 2003 QuoteThe Canadian Government is mostly made up of French Canadians who are striving to make French the dominant language in Canada. Everything you said in your post is true except this one statement... In Quebec, the language police exist, the store names must be in French, and the French words must be on top and the english below on all signs! But this is all about preservation... not domination... I don't think the French Canadians want French to be the dominant language in Canada... what would set them appart!?!? My Karma ran over my Dogma!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,400 #8 July 18, 2003 >Wow, that's stupid to forbid people to use the term "Email." What >bitter pansies. I'd say it's about as bad as renaming "french fries" to "freedom fries" out of spite. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rebecca 0 #9 July 18, 2003 QuoteI'd say it's about as bad as renaming "french fries" to "freedom fries" out of spite. LOL! Good point! I thought that was incredibly stupid, too. edit: by 'that' I mean renaming fries, not your post... you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #10 July 18, 2003 QuoteWhat do you expect?...they're french!!! And how do we know they are French? By their OUTRAAAAAAGEOUS Accents. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
usedtajump 1 #11 July 18, 2003 QuoteMeh, I love to make fun... but I at least commend their dedication... I remember similar scandal about the word "Walkman" (Balladeur in French) Until it was decided that "Walkman" was a proper noun and thusly an international word. I guess you have to draw the line somewhere and then stick to it in order to preserve language and thusly culture... Particularily when you are surrounded by anglophones... funny nonetheless. I kind of agree with you on that. The US could do a hell of a lot better job of protecting our language, whats left of it.The older I get the less I care who I piss off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #12 July 18, 2003 QuoteThe US could do a hell of a lot better job of protecting our language "Que?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laurel 0 #13 July 18, 2003 Quote>Wow, that's stupid to forbid people to use the term "Email." What >bitter pansies. I'd say it's about as bad as renaming "french fries" to "freedom fries" out of spite. too funny. next time I'm at Micky-Ds - I'm ordering Freedom Fries...................................................................... PMS#28, Pelogrande Rodriguez#1074 My Pink M Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dterrick 0 #14 July 18, 2003 WOW Bill, that's quite a statement about our government... That siad, I was among the first graduating class of the new French Immersion program offered in Fort Garry (Winnipeg, MB) - and among the first in the province. I started that schooling in 1980 - shortly after "the Metric System" was foisted upon us. Man was I one screwed up kid - and look how I turned out, jumping out of planes and all Seriously, we "Westerners" have long had a bone to pick with the Feds and it has NOTHING to do with the Official Languages Act. Well, maybe one thing... Ontario, "the Centre of the Universe" has a sufficiently large legeslative population to all but ENSURE that the political flavour of the day in that province is what we get across the entire country. And, as you corectly point out, when the fabric of the Federal Liberal party is largely composed of francophones and businessmen with ties to the french (and international) community a la PowerCorp, Bombarider, etc ... we're unlikely to get anything different anytime soon. Never do I expect that French will become 'the' dominant language in Canada. I'd argue, though, that if they let the language evolve to include modern 'international' vocabulary what would eventually evolve would be the equivalent of modern versus Olde Englishe (read any original print copies of 18th Century English Literature lately?). The evolutionary process of language and technology today is such that in a decade or 2 - not a century or 2 - the "new generation" could be functionally illeterate in the "old language". If you need 'police' to enforce your culture then you have a very VERY large problem, agreed. -Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unstable 8 #15 July 19, 2003 French? I wouldn't miss it =========Shaun ========== Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrazyIvan 0 #16 July 19, 2003 I hope the french language dissappear, that way we don't have to use such stupid terms like Hors D'oeuvres and shit like that. __________________________________________ Blue Skies and May the Force be with you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuteless 1 #17 July 19, 2003 you mean exit stageux a la droit...dont you? Ribbit.....ribbit......ribbit.....croak ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marz 0 #18 July 19, 2003 Quote French? I wouldn't miss it Ya know, I was going to ignore this, but silly me, I had to keep reading.... I'm sure most of you guys don't give a flying F#$K but, believe it or not, I'm French Canadian. Born and bred. I didn't speak a word of english until I was 9 years old. I learned to speak the language though and now exist perfectly both in french and english. I speak to my son in french only because I expect him to learn it. I write for work and I can do it in both languages. Honestly, my english grammar is probably superior to most in the office that only speak the one language. Why is that? because I din't speak a word until I was nine, and learned to write in french which is a latin language and much, much more poetically inclined than english. As such, my english is excellent. I'm not a separatist, nor am I the french police. but I love my culture. For that matter. I think it's ridiculous what the Office de la langue Francaise is doing in Quebec. However, it is about preservation of a minority culture who were at the cornerstoone of my country. If you want to know why french is still spoken in Canada (in all ten provinces by the way) check your history books. You'll find that alot of the great things in this country have french people behind it. The ministers speak french in Canada because they understand the one thing my mother and father told me when they sent me, kicking and screaming, to english school. "Learn a second language and you will go alot farther in life." I make $15000 more a year than a guy who has the same job as me because I can speak both languages. So I'm sorry you won't miss french. I'm sure the french won't miss you either when you're serving them "freedom fries" with that. Cheers. Marz _________________________________________ Did I just kill another thread? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuteless 1 #19 July 19, 2003 sure you'll do okay speaking both languages, especially if you do anything ( even writing) that is related to the Canadian govenment. The armed forces (what there is of them) will only promote Frenchies. Watch and you'll see in TV interviews, whether in Afghanistan or in Canada, the spokesperson is ALWAYS french..and so are those with rank. Our idiot government demands it. If you think for 1 minute the government isnt behind a subtle move to spread french over Canada, your crazy. Sure they speak it in all ten provinces, many people in New Brunswick and Quebec, 3 people in each of the other provinces. The next Prime Minister will also be a French Canadian disguised as an English Canadian, Paul Martin...actually pronounced Paul Martan....Theres a lot more to this than meets the eye....you'll see. ribbit.!!!! Actually, I must confess, I have spent a lot of time in Quebec, especially in the 1980s, and I enjoyed it, and the people. I just dont like to government giving so much to the French Canadians and taking so much from English Canada to do it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marz 0 #20 July 19, 2003 Quotesure you'll do okay speaking both languages, especially if you do anything ( even writing) that is related to the Canadian govenment. The armed forces (what there is of them) will only promote Frenchies. Watch and you'll see in TV interviews, whether in Afghanistan or in Canada, the spokesperson is ALWAYS french..and so are those with rank. Our idiot government demands it. If you think for 1 minute the government isnt behind a subtle move to spread french over Canada, your crazy. Sure they speak it in all ten provinces, many people in New Brunswick and Quebec, 3 people in each of the other provinces. The next Prime Minister will also be a French Canadian disguised as an English Canadian, Paul Martin...actually pronounced Paul Martan....Theres a lot more to this than meets the eye....you'll see. ribbit.!!!! Actually, I must confess, I have spent a lot of time in Quebec, especially in the 1980s, and I enjoyed it, and the people. I just dont like to government giving so much to the French Canadians and taking so much from English Canada to do it. I had a long post written and then I decided that it was unecessary to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed. I'm done with this post. I like most people on this forum, and I'm going to keep believing that people mean well. Marz _________________________________________ Did I just kill another thread? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuteless 1 #21 July 19, 2003 well, I must admit the French Canadians are very good at one thing, and that is creating scandals of megasize through their Liberal Party in the House of Commons. Imagine, a canoe museum for the PM's constituency, of course at taxpayers expense, , prolonged stays at plush resorts in return for favours, megamoney deals for a Montreal promotional agency in exchange for kickbacks to the Liberal party, and on and on and on it goes. How about the special arrangements for a loan of millions of dollars for the Hotel that is right beside a golf course which the PM has ( or maybe now it is "had") and interest in. Even the "Weasel" Don Boudria has been involved in scandal. No end to what they have pulled off. If you want a battle of wits, stick a "T" in front of it and argue with the Government TWITS. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoby 0 #22 July 19, 2003 Ultimately, what makes the froggy attempts to maintain their language so counterproductive is that languages gain value as they evolve. English is generally a rather backwards language. The spelling and grammar rules are truly broken. However, english is becoming, ironically, the new lingua franca. The simple reason is that english has ballooned enormously, absorbing words from all of the cultures that it encounters. English now has something like a million words, as counted by the OED. Many of these words are homonyms, but with varying connotations. This makes it literally possible to express more things in english. The old saying that "eskimos have 30 words for snow, we only have one" is untrue...english has more words for snow that inuit. This all makes english rather unweildy and really hard to learn, but it makes for a robustness that more rigid languages don't have. I really like the frogs, and their many yummy wines and cheese, and even their silly language, but I think that this is pretty counterproductive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuteless 1 #23 July 19, 2003 The English language is the language of the world...it is the Universal language. However, French is a beautiful language, and the FrenchCanadian people are great people. It is the insidious ways that the French dominated government in Canada tries to force French on the rest of the country. It is the way in which they give hundreds of millions of dollars ( most of which comes from English Canada ) to francophone companies, i.e. Bombardier, Quebecor ), and the list is endless. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydyvr 0 #24 July 19, 2003 QuoteI hope the french language dissappear, that way we don't have to use such stupid terms like Hors D'oeuvres and shit like that. But then we wouldn't get to say cool stuff like: Parlez Vous A Humma-Humma? . . =(_8^(1) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbrown 26 #25 July 19, 2003 What is this, another decree from Cornelius Fudge ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
