woolybanana Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 ......if you are a parliamentarian.A UMP depute has been fined three months wages because he insisted on saying Madame LE president when a lady was talking in the hemicycle because the regulation of the French parliament brought in by this load of socialist nutters says that the correct form is Madame LA president. However the Academie Francaise says that the LE form is correct.It is however apparently correct to say Madame LE ministre when addressing a lady ministress.So, must I now say Madame LA gendarme when they say LE?I prefer the solution found by the fire brigade for female staff - they use the word Madame la pompette.... (careful...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 ROFLPMP, good, I'm glad that this has happened. It's all too confusing for my little brain.When we got our female puppy, I told people we had a chiotte! Caused much hilarity, but it had made perfect sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 A new bankruptcy waiting to happen has just set up in my village, une coiffeuse who has called her business L'hair du tempsIt just looks plain wrong somehow to me, shouldnt it be le hair if they are going to use an English term? Its not as if the H is silent in hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I suspect it is a play on the name of the very famous, long-established Nina Ricci scent - L'Air du Temps...Which isn't to say it still isn't a bankruptcy waiting to happen but it's not necessarily just about the "Hair". [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I have seen as bad. 'Hair Changez' in the UK...........Now guess what the shop called 'Bare Dreams' sold in France? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 [quote user="woolybanana"]......if you are a parliamentarian.A UMP depute has been fined three months wages because he insisted on saying Madame LE president when a lady was talking in the hemicycle because the regulation of the French parliament brought in by this load of socialist nutters says that the correct form is Madame LA president. However the Academie Francaise says that the LE form is correct.It is however apparently correct to say Madame LE ministre when addressing a lady ministress.So, must I now say Madame LA gendarme when they say LE?I prefer the solution found by the fire brigade for female staff - they use the word Madame la pompette.... (careful...)[/quote]Slightly misleading, FurryBanana...The fine was imposed because of his lack of respect towards parliamentary protocol.The geezer in question is a recidivist and had been advised and warned many times before. Is he a French Dennis Skinner? [:-))]and finally...the correct form is Madame LA presidente.[kiss] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Le problème est que le politiquement correct est grammaticalement incorrect.Rappelons tout d’abord qu’en France c’est l’Académie Française et non le pouvoir politique qui fixe les règles de la langue françaisehttp://gillesenlituanie.hautetfort.com/archive/2010/02/21/madame-le-president-ou-madame-la-presidente.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 The UMP members of the assembly have consistently been using Madame LE president - that is well over 100 speakers, and so far there has been no further reaction.Yes, he is a recidivist but in this case, I sort of agree with him. If you have a body for making the rules for the nation then it is bloody silly to have a different set of rules in pay at the same time. Especially as to say Madame LA presidente actually is the term used for the president's wife, if he had one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 "Especially as to say Madame LA presidente actually is the term used for the president's wife"That's incorrect.The correct from of address for the President's wife is her chosen name: Madame Giscard d'Estaing; Madame Mitterrand; Madame Pompidou; etc...The form of address would be used for a female President."If you have a body for making the rules for the nation then it is bloody silly to have a different set of rules in pay at the same time."When he chooses to address someone within the French Parliament, he has to abide by the rules agreed to within that context, in the same way forum members agree to abide by the Code of Conduct when they post here, just as football players agree to abide by the referee's decisions, however much they might disagree with them.He chooses to flaunt the rules and takes the consequences. Let us be clear about something: this is just a show of political grand-standing and has nothing whatsoever to do with being politically or grammatically correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Yes, I know it is political grandstanding, but the French Parliament was stupid to have agreed this rule at all. It allows silly nonsense to take place.But using the LA form is definitely about political correctness gone nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Clair, do you have a reference for the correct form of address for the President's wife, svp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 [quote user="woolybanana"]Yes, I know it is political grandstanding, but the French Parliament was stupid to have agreed this rule at all. It allows silly nonsense to take place.But using the LA form is definitely about political correctness gone nuts.[/quote]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmsV1TuESrc&html5=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 [quote user="woolybanana"]Clair, do you have a reference for the correct form of address for the President's wife, svp?[/quote]http://www.eurojuris.fr/fre/collectivites/services-publics/fonction-publique-personnel/articles/role-epouse-president-republique.htmlBest I can do for now... [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MAC Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 'Hair do' really? go figure.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Thank you Clair.I see that the term la presidente has been reserved for a hypothetical female president. But who reserved it, the parliament or the language police?It is of course quite logical that these words should simply be feminized but tradition and grammar seem to be in the way.They are in Quebec and Switzerland and Belgium. I have been told female gendarmes that madame le gendarme is OK, but it still seems odd to me. I do prefer LA when appropriate.The loss of the word gendarmette is such a pity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 So french is only set in stone sometimes. What do we call a female notaire then? I refused to call the male notaire in our village by his proper title, always Monsieur, he probably thought I was ignorant of the french way, I wasn't, but there was no way I was going to call him anything but Monsieur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Kent II Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 [quote user="idun"]So french is only set in stone sometimes. What do we call a female notaire then? I refused to call the male notaire in our village by his proper title, always Monsieur, he probably thought I was ignorant of the french way, I wasn't, but there was no way I was going to call him anything but Monsieur. [/quote]Female notaires are called Maitre. Gender is a characteristic of the noun, not the object it refers to. A sentry is une sentinelle - even if he is a man.In English "gender" appears to have become an alternative to "sex". "Male" and "female" are statements about physiology and should thus be called "sex" but I suspect that political correctness has raised its ugly head and confused the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 A male notaire is Maitre and a female one Maitresse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Is that why you keep changing houses? So you can keep visiting une Maîtresse? [6] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Absolutely, Norman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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