French Government Bans Term 'E-Mail'

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French Government Bans Term 'E-Mail' 1094

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:15AM from the won't-somebody-please-think-of-le-words dept.

Licensed2Hack writes "'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.' . Curriel? 'Hey Pierre, curriel me those sales figures.' Just sounds wrong!" Especially if you don't actually speak french ;)

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French Government Bans Term 'E-Mail'

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Nice, the poster wrote courriel wrong. (Score:5, Funny)

by jesco ( 598308 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:19AM (#6483873)

Interesting, the submitter of this story didn't even manage to write courriel correct... despite it being displayed two lines above...

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Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:1, Funny)

by grokBoy ( 582119 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:19AM (#6483877)

I don't see what all the fuss is aboot.

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I got One Word for Them... (Score:5, Funny)

by Greyfox ( 87712 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:21AM (#6483883) Homepage Journal

"Crossandwitch."

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right. (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:22AM (#6483894)

In other news French legislation against junk e-mail has been delayed until the French can come up with a French sounding substitute for the word spam.

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French for spam too (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:22AM (#6483895)

And there is no such thing as Spam in french email either. It's now

jambon épicé courriel

takes all types

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Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:5, Funny)

by AndroidCat ( 229562 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:25AM (#6483915) Homepage

This will be about as successful as the Quebec Office de la Langue Français' attempts to get people to stop using hotdog and hamburger. (They invented words for those too.)

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Et puis quoi? (Score:2, Funny)

by panurge ( 573432 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:26AM (#6483920)

Incroyable, mais la plupart du monde ne parle pas Anglais. Et, plus incroyable que ca, l'ONU n'a pas interdit l'utilisation des langues non-Anglais. L'axis du mal, on devrait ajouter ces singes qui aiment le fromage et se rend toujours. Et l'ONU, c'est un ami des terroristes qui voulait supprimer la langue de Dieu avec ces termes diaboliques. Quand on ecrit "courriel", on donne support a Osama Bin Laden
This information brought to you by the French office of the Department of Homeland Security

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Must... Quote... Groundskeeper Willie.... (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:28AM (#6483935)

"Bonjour, you cheese-eating surrender monkeys!"

Ah, there, I went and said it. Sorry.....

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Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:28AM (#6483936)

chien chaud, colis !

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Re:Adele (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:32AM (#6483952)

Dude! you're getting adele!

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Re:Adele (Score:3, Funny)

by Petronius ( 515525 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:34AM (#6483974)

Putain d'Adele!

(Il fallait bien qu'un francophone la fasse...)

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Re:French for spam too (Score:4, Funny)

by Petronius ( 515525 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:37AM (#6483996)

McDonald's ?

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Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:43AM (#6484032)

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

by mlush ( 620447 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:44AM (#6484036)

English-speaking people don't bitch about "rendez-vous", "à propos", etc.
Probably something to do with English being mostly made up of foreign words
This french habit is just arrogance.
To the French arrogance is not just a habit, its a way of life

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French government also requires... (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:45AM (#6484044)

...the term "surrender monkey" be replaced by "victory primate."

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Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:3, Funny)

by jrockway ( 229604 ) * writes: <jon-nospam@jrock.us> on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:48AM (#6484065) Homepage Journal

or just send them an E-meiru

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Re:I wish the Japanese were a bit more like that (Score:3, Funny)

by kfg ( 145172 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @10:49AM (#6484068)

Don't strangle him. Just commit "hairy kairy."

KFG

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Reminds me of the a joke.. (Score:5, Funny)

by Mindjiver ( 71 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @11:16AM (#6484274) Homepage

What's the difference between the USA and yoghurt?
Even yoghurt develop its own culture after a while.

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Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

by eht ( 8912 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @11:29AM (#6484367)

We recognize it in ourselves, but our arrogance is something to be proud of, other's arrogance is something to be ashamed of.

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Re:Et puis quoi? (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @11:56AM (#6484540)

Tu sais quoi?

Je t'encules avec tes comparaisons parafitement déplacées.

Et puis l'axe du mal a son origine à Washington plutôt que dans les pays sous-développés que l'hégémonie américaine s'applique à renvoyer à l'âge de pierre...

Oh, et puis Merde!

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Peux tu m'envoyer un courriel sur ce c�d�rom ? (Score:2, Funny)

by Psykopat ( 690928 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:03PM (#6484583)

... the worst is, our french governement also decided to "translate" the term "CD-rom"... And now, Mesdames et Messieurs, please write "cédérom", and not "CD-rom" ! Within a year or two : "- Hello Jacques, what do you do ? - Just watching a dévédé on my pécé."

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Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:2, Funny)

by SN74S181 ( 581549 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:43PM (#6484829)

French culture isn't dead. Another dose of penicillin might do it, though.

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Now I definitely have to use e-mail (Score:2, Funny)

by TecraMan ( 12354 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:44PM (#6484836)

To be nice, I got in the habit of saying courrier electronique, but now that the Academie has got into their heads to prescribe more artificial changes to the French language I will switch to e-mail. Courriel... What a load of rubbish!

E-mail, e-mail, e-mail, e-mail....

I feel like the guy in Life of Brian who got stoned for shouting "Jehova, Jehova, Jehova". Wonder when they're going to start stoning me!

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Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

by An Onerous Coward ( 222037 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:50PM (#6484870) Homepage

"English-speaking people don't bitch about "rendez-vous", "à propos", etc. This french habit is just arrogance."

From henceforth, please refrain from using the word rendzevous. Instead, please use the more patriotic "freedom meeting." Furthermore, please avoid using accenting characters in words like apropos and resume (a short account of one's career and qualifications prepared typically by an applicant for a position) as such accents give them an inappropriate, un-American character. By doing so, you will be doing your part to fight terrorism at home and abroad.

Thank you,

The Department of Homeland Security

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Re:Just sounds wrong (Score:5, Funny)

by rocjoe71 ( 545053 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:52PM (#6484879) Homepage

It's a very specific feature of English that almost any noun can be verbed, as you did.
You gotta be shitting me... Oh wait, you're right.

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P�t�? (Score:4, Funny)

by dark&stormynight ( 69479 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:54PM (#6484890)

Will SPAM now become Pâté? Also, the SPAM song won't be as funny if you sing...

Pâté, Pâté, Pâté... wonderful Pâté!

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it sounds quite good to me (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @12:58PM (#6484920)

My mother tongue is French and to me the word "courriel" sounds pretty well. I might well use it.

I guess it is a shortcut for "courrier éléctronique" (electronic mail).

Courriel is a true French word because you can make many spelling errors:
- I could write only one "r": couriel
- or add to many letters at the end: courrielle
- or o combinaision of both: courielle

Only one word, so many mistakes to make, It's really a French word!

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Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:1, Funny)

by GMC-jimmy ( 243376 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @01:00PM (#6484932) Homepage

c-mail ?

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What about SPAM (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @01:22PM (#6485046)

is Spam gonna be omlette du courriel, or courriel a la biftek.

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Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

by commodoresloat ( 172735 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @01:42PM (#6485190)

English-speaking people don't bitch about "rendez-vous", "à propos", etc.
That's because we don't know what they mean.

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Re:Reminds me of the a joke.. (Score:3, Funny)

by littleRedFriend ( 456491 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @02:23PM (#6485423)

Reminds me of another quote

"America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilisation." --Georges Clemenceau 1841-1929) French general and statesman.

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how to make your language obsolete in 3 easy steps (Score:2, Funny)

by Deadplant ( 212273 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @05:40PM (#6486632)

step one: Establish a bureaucracy to preside over the language.
step two: Wait while the rest of the world adds words to their languages at double or triple your rate.
step three: Learn english or mandarin or something.

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As George W. Bush once said... (Score:3, Funny)

by Shark ( 78448 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @06:37PM (#6486940)

The french don't have a word for 'Entrepreneur'

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In response... (Score:3, Funny)

by vmxeo ( 173325 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @07:10PM (#6487117) Homepage Journal

...I say we rename FreeNet to FrenchNet. That'll show 'em.

...actually, no...wait, switch that.
Err... uh, nevermind...

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We Have "Curriels" in San Francisco (Score:3, Funny)

by Master of Transhuman ( 597628 ) writes: on Sunday July 20, 2003 @07:50PM (#6487293) Homepage

They're called "bike messengers"...

Oh, wait, maybe I'm thinking "courier"...never mind...

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There may be more comments in this discussion. Without JavaScript enabled, you might want to turn on Classic Discussion System in your preferences instead.

Nice, the poster wrote courriel wrong. (Score:5, Funny)

Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:1, Funny)

I got One Word for Them... (Score:5, Funny)

right. (Score:5, Funny)

French for spam too (Score:1, Funny)

Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:5, Funny)

Et puis quoi? (Score:2, Funny)

Must... Quote... Groundskeeper Willie.... (Score:1, Funny)

Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Adele (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Adele (Score:3, Funny)

Re:French for spam too (Score:4, Funny)

Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

French government also requires... (Score:1, Funny)

Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:3, Funny)

Re:I wish the Japanese were a bit more like that (Score:3, Funny)

Reminds me of the a joke.. (Score:5, Funny)

Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Et puis quoi? (Score:1, Funny)

Peux tu m'envoyer un courriel sur ce c�d�rom ? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:2, Funny)

Now I definitely have to use e-mail (Score:2, Funny)

Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Just sounds wrong (Score:5, Funny)

P�t�? (Score:4, Funny)

it sounds quite good to me (Score:1, Funny)

Re:can't you tell by my ridiculous accent? (Score:1, Funny)

What about SPAM (Score:1, Funny)

Re:This is stupid (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Reminds me of the a joke.. (Score:3, Funny)

how to make your language obsolete in 3 easy steps (Score:2, Funny)

As George W. Bush once said... (Score:3, Funny)

In response... (Score:3, Funny)

We Have "Curriels" in San Francisco (Score:3, Funny)

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