July 18, 200322 yr Yet *another* reason to hate the French... France Bans the Term 'E-Mail' Fri Jul 18,10:37 AM ET By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer 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." France bans e-mail
July 18, 200322 yr Author Sadly, as much as I would have like to add this to the Humor section, this is not a joke.
July 19, 200322 yr Electronic mail is the proper english word. Electronic post is also proper, but doesn't sound as well. The French are just being themselves, good thing we don't live in France. VIVA LA E-MAIL! :lol
July 20, 200322 yr Funny DT :lol BTW...the proper term would porno electronique. For example, Olympic Stadium is Stade Olympique.
July 20, 200322 yr Funny DT :lol BTW...the proper term would porno electronique. For example, Olympic Stadium is Stade Olympique. meh, morceau de langue de Francais de crap hope I said that right...
July 20, 200322 yr I speak Spanish and French is similar, so I used the same rules. Estadio Olympiado = Olympic Stadium
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