GAAAAAAAAAAH
That was ME, not lno!
I forgot to log him out.
Shaaaaame…
Shaaaaame…
Good call, Elen. What always amuses me is that in France, the official word is “week-end”… but in le canayen affreux it’s “fin de semaine.”
I was astonished at the amount of English used in France, at least in the commercial names of businesses; it seems to be seen (at least by the retailers of clothes, electronics, convenience-type goods, fast-ish foods, music, etc) as hip, cool, what-have-you, and above all American. Some even with the American Flag as part of the logo! (Yes, I’m aware that there’s a disconnect there with the perception that the French have nothing but distain for the USA, or at least their perception that the USA lacks “culture…” but the youth of France sure seem keen to ape US youth cultural trends in clothing, food and music, regardless.)
I wasn’t in Paris, but in the smaller northern cities of Picardy, like Arras, Amiens, Lille, etc. At an unscientific guess, easily 15-20% of the signs in the newer businesses in the smarter town centre shopping districts had an English name of some sort. And, of course, the “STOP” signs in France all say “STOP,” at least all the ones that I saw.
should they say “go” then?
gum, they could say arrêt as in Québec
What a Duketastrophe.
I make a point to pronounce it hambourgeur. I like the sound of it.
Seriously folks, the Japanese ministry of education publishes a list of characters that are acceptable for use in general publication, where’s the outrage? How dare they “regulate” language?
The Académie Française has been setting guidelines for French usage since 1635. This has nothing to do with being threatened.
I was gonna compliment lno on his dedication to picking up the details of french so quickly. I had heard he was trying to learn a little for you…
Hehe.
France sucks. Smee German, Italian, Polish, and uuummm. French.
What is the shortest book in the French History section of the Library?
A: The book of “French War Heros”
Smee Goan…
Joan D’Arc and William the Conquorer come to mind.
My problem with hambourgeois is that it sounds like something that would be served at a Marxist cafe. Made from real capitalist oppressors!
People don’t find it funny or pretentious that the French have different words for stuff. If the French just happened to use courriel as the word for e-mail no one would be objecting. It’s the fact that they have an official body that makes pronouncements banning certain words. That sounds pretentious simply because it’s very different from what we do here in the States.
I think it makes a certain amount of sense, frankly, to clarify what should be used in an official sense. Much easier than the US system of just assuming folks know what’s appropriate or not.