France Bans "E-Mail"
 

France Bans the Term 'E-Mail'

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."


:1orglaugh

I wonder if the Language Police in Quebec will follow suit now?

french people are so fucking weird :1orglaugh

thats probably payback for the freedom fry thing too hahaha

well, at least they have their priorities in order.

:1orglaugh

Love that sig Mutt! That's totally high impact visually! Nice!!

How girly can a nation be?

atm, most of the people using the word "courriel" are the computer engineering teachers...

so i guess that word will stay away from our vocabulary :1orglaugh

Gimme a Royale with Cheese, merci beaucoup :1orglaugh

man those mofos are like nazi's

Pardon et moi?:winkwink:

The word "Courriel" have actually been invented in Quebec. It already make couple years that you can find the word courriel on sites created by Quebecers. It's already a part of our language.

So it's nothing new for us in Quebec.

Oh shit, that's hilarious. Banning words because they originated in a different language? Haha.

Freedom Fries are back!

Haha, fuck the French. The words "shower" and "shave" are from another language which would explain why they aren't familiar with them.

Bwahahahahahahaha:1orglaugh

If there's a term in your language to describe something, why not use it?

I dont get why guys are freaking out over it.

there's ALOT of words originated in a different language and then translated into your own language.... this is nothing new:2 cents:

So then what was the problem with Freedom Fries? Anything?

There's a difference between translating and "banning". I couldn't care less what the French do, I just found it humorous.

tight assed frogger bitches. fuck those smelly unshaven sluts. such spiteful little assholes they are.

? FRench fries is still an english term!?

If im not mistaken, the French use ALOT of english terms/words even if there's the equivalent in French... So what they do to protect the language is ask companies, government, etc.. to use the French term... As an individual, you can still use email if you want....

By the way, in couple of years, you might see similar laws in California targeting companies.. to protect the englsih language...

ahahahahaahahahaha

because there ISN'T a term in their language describing it, they had to go invent one.

when I'm in a restaurant, do I say,"I'll have the force fed bloated goose liver" or do I say,"I'll have the fois gras"
the fucking french are idiots.

oh God, here we go again!

You say "fois gras" because you think it sound better!

Do you really have an idea how many words in the english language originated from another languages?

French Fries? That was translated in english right?

uh, the point is, we don't give a fuck where a word came from. if it fits, we use it.
We're not like the silly french making up words in french to replace common terms already in use from another language.

i don't think so we are not as petty as americans:Graucho

just to let you know that this thing is ONLY for the government paperworks, everybody else will still use "e-mail" as before they tried to make us use a french version of chewing gum and walkman and it never worked