France Bans the Term 'E-mail'

Dyre Straits · Jul 18, 2003, 08:31 PM

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.

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~~HawK~~ · Jul 18, 2003, 08:49 PM

Yeah, way to go France, this wil surely unite europe

DriveEuro · Jul 18, 2003, 09:02 PM

Crazy french..

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 18, 2003, 10:28 PM

french are tards

~~craig588~~ · Jul 18, 2003, 10:55 PM

Who cares about the name of something? This is just as dumb as the freedom fries thing.

ToshiroOC · Jul 18, 2003, 11:58 PM

They have an institute for the control of the French language... French hasn't changed much over the years, for the better or worse, thanks to them... its something they've always done. Not a big deal.

starboy · Jul 19, 2003, 12:49 AM

What's wrong with the 'Email', french?

A curse or something?

Jul 18, 2003, 08:31 PM	#1
Dyre Straits HH Old Fuddy Duddy Join Date: May 2002 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 14,205 Rep Power: 216 System Specs	France Bans the Term 'E-mail' 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. More Detail

Jul 18, 2003, 09:02 PM	#3
DriveEuro HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Gurnee Illinois Posts: 4,677 Rep Power: 0	Crazy french.. __________________ [color=orange]ASUS P4P800 Deluxe [color=black]-[/color] 2.4C --> 3300mhz [color=black]-[/color] Mushkin PC3200 at 220 5-2-2-2 (cpu limited) [color=black]-[/color] BBAti 9800Pro at 430/375 [/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]01[/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]03[/color] 16001200 12801024

Jul 18, 2003, 10:28 PM	#4
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	french are tards __________________

Jul 18, 2003, 11:58 PM	#6
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	They have an institute for the control of the French language... French hasn't changed much over the years, for the better or worse, thanks to them... its something they've always done. Not a big deal. __________________ [img][/img] [color=White]Peace be with you, Joe.[/color] Driverheaven Staff Member (Supermoderator)

Jul 18, 2003, 08:49 PM	#2
~~HawK~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,092 Rep Power: 0	Yeah, way to go France, this wil surely unite europe

Jul 18, 2003, 10:55 PM	#5
~~craig588~~ Banned Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: In clothing Posts: 3,510 Rep Power: 0	Who cares about the name of something? This is just as dumb as the freedom fries thing.

Jul 19, 2003, 12:49 AM	#7
starboy HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brunei Posts: 127 Rep Power: 0	What's wrong with the 'Email', french? A curse or something?