woolybanana Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Don't say 'back office' but 'arriere guichet', not 'blog' but 'blogue', not 'thumbnail' but 'imagette ...... the list goes on and on. I wonder who pays these cretins?http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/vu-sur-le-web/20140916.OBS9311/ne-dites-plus-back-office-dites-arriere-guichet.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Nothing wrong, surely, Woolly, in a nation state seeking to preserving its cultural heritage? A core part of which is language.Britain has allowed its cultural heritage to become emasculated and dominated by externalised forces: mainly media and American business.In the South where I have the misfortune to reside when in England, the lingua franca of an increasing majority is doggerel. An admixture of Australian Oker "Strine"; Afro-Caribbean street jive, rap, druggie, gangstah; Americanisms and Madison Avenue buzz invention. Overlaid with Mockney.Even the way people speak has been adulterated: as just one example, adopted by watching too many Australian soaps, no doubt, is the rising inflection at the end of each sentence, as it were a question when clearly, it is not.As one of the Romance languages, French is a wonderful cultural asset: no wonder it was the preferred way of communication of the English court, the Russian court and many others. The ability to speak, read and write fluently was a mark of cultural achievement and gravitas.I utterly abhor people sending me emails which commence with "Hi": what, pray, is wrong with "Hello"? I am not American. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 Language grows and changes according to cultures and needs, it is not the property of anyone person or state. English belongs to the world, to the users round the world and the society that is now England. It will change and grow. English does this whereas French is repressed by a few old men in an office who are paid a fortune by the taxpayer to tell them what words they should use. Bit like kids really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basquesteve Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 "I utterly abhor people sending me emails which commence with "Hi": what, pray, is wrong with "Hello"? I am not American."Hi is an English word 300 years older than Hello first used in the 1800'sPS just found this LOL Hello, formerly an Americanism, is now nearly as common as hullo in Britain (Say who you are; do not just say 'hello' is the warning given in our telephone directories) and the Englishman cannot be expected to give up the right to say hello if he likes it better than his native hullo. [H.W. Fowler, "A Dictionary of Modern English Usage," 1926] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 Perhaps we might use Howdie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Lauerd me steres, noght wante sal me:In stede of fode þare me louked he.He fed me ouer watre ofe fode,Mi saule he tornes in to gode.He led me ouer sties of rightwisenes,For his name, swa hali es.Happily, languages do evolve and change over time. The OED adds dozens of new words on a regular basis. Equally, pronunciation and accents evolve. Not always for the better, granted, but at least even the BBC has accepted that RP is no longer necessary nor representative of the way the vast majority of the population actually speak.It's exactly the same for French. It's not an erosion of the language, just change. Which is happening all the time. Having some stuffed shirts somewhere trying to hold back the tide of change like King Canute will change very little.One of my dearest friends in France, referring to her daughter's job, said to me not long ago "c'est son jour off" and she's quite a language purist who often fine-tunes my French and pulls me up when I use local phrases which are, essentially, "bad" French. Yet she was adamant that what she'd said was commonly used and acceptable. She's well into her 70's, BTW, not some youngster with a tendency towards slang or lazy French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basquesteve Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Lauerd me steres, noght wante sal me: In stede of fode þare me louked he. He fed me ouer watre ofe fode, Mi saule he tornes in to gode. He led me ouer sties of rightwisenes, For his name, swa hali es. Through how many tongues/bishops did this faith rubbish evolved into English and did it help our ancestors give me a few examples of the beneficiaries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Yo WB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 [quote user="basquesteve"]Lauerd me steres, noght wante sal me: In stede of fode þare me louked he. He fed me ouer watre ofe fode, Mi saule he tornes in to gode. He led me ouer sties of rightwisenes, For his name, swa hali es. Through how many tongues/bishops did this faith rubbish evolved into English and did it help our ancestors give me a few examples of the beneficiaries[/quote]What? The fact is that it's survived, whereas medieval shopping lists are a bit thin on the ground...The content is irrelevant. Sorry it went right over your head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nectarine Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 I admire the efforts to keep the French language pure but it's a losing battle. Popular culture, songs, films, etc., are English language, the internet, etc. I really do like to think of a few elderly gentlemen in a cobwebby room discussing this, scattering their words with the French equivalent of "prithee" and "forsooth" and "bah humbug" ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 [quote user="nectarine"]I admire the efforts to keep the French language pure but it's a losing battle. Popular culture, songs, films, etc., are English language, the internet, etc. I really do like to think of a few elderly gentlemen in a cobwebby room discussing this, scattering their words with the French equivalent of "prithee" and "forsooth" and "bah humbug" ...[/quote]I didn"t think we had met [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereford Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_lawSent from my son to whom I had sent a link to the original post!Sorry if it is not clickable - not sure how to do that.Mrs H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 An interesting link, BUT................I feel absolutely sure that all generations always ended up referring to something diabolical in their recent history or just history. A bit like the bogey man, but as a general reference to demonstrate that something evil from the past is comparible to something that is happening 'currently'. Isn't that how human's minds work? It is obvious, to me at least and I am not that clever........... that for now and probably many many years to come that n a z i or fascist will be used, as it isn't that long ago that these monsters were at the height of their power.This man is really gonflé to give it a term, a name........... his name![:'(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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