The Queen of Overdub Kisses (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} 33mhz) wrote,@ 2009-10-30 04:07:00 |
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Foreign Words Are Going to Destroy Every Language
From the WSJ, The French Get Lost in the Clouds Over a New Term in the Internet Age
From the WSJ, The French Get Lost in the Clouds Over a New Term in the Internet Age
Before a word such as "cloud computing" or "podcasting" ("diffusion pour baladeur") receives a certified French equivalent, it needs to be approved by three organizations and get a government minister's seal of approval, according to rules laid out by the state's General Delegation for the French Language and the Languages of France. The process can be a linguistic odyssey taking years.
[...]
Each of France's government ministries has at least one terminology committee attached to it. The job of the people on the committee is to spot new English words and create and define French alternatives before the English version catches on. Ms. Madinier called on the committee in charge of computing terminology -- which is part of the French Finance Ministry -- to handle the expression "cloud computing."
[...]
The problem was the word "cloud." In French, to be "dans les nuages" -- or in the clouds -- is a common expression meaning to be distracted. So, committee members were wary of using the word "nuage." One would not want to have his head in the clouds. They came up with alternatives, including Capacité Informatique en Ligne (or online computing capability), which could be shortened to CIEL, which, of course, means "sky" in French.
"Going from 'cloud' to 'sky' seems to be a bit far-fetched," one committee member wrote his colleagues last August in an email.
[...]
But at the meeting earlier this month, the 17 members of the commission were quickly confused. "How are we supposed to understand it?" asked Alexandre Grandazzi, a Latin professor.
"I think we can survive without the term 'cloud computing,'" said physics expert Mr. Guyon, slamming his hand on the table.
"Cloud computing" will now go back to the drawing board.
In other news, the Grand-High Muckymucks of English have again failed to reach consensus over suitable English replacements for various tricky words of foreign origin. Things got off to a smooth start with a successful motion to replace "tsunami" with "huge fucking wave," but a nearly-successful bid to replace "hamburger" with "beef sandwich" was scuttled when concerns were raised over the French origin of the word "beef."
Similarly, a suggestion to replace "taco" with "unleavened open-face sandwich" was torpedoed by the observation that it's not technically the sandwich that was unleavened, but the bread used to make it. The suggestion was amended to "open-face sandwich made with unleavened bread," but stalled again when nearly 30% of the board complained that it was too long to be of any use.
In exasperation, Hilaire Dubois, a freelance lexical Onanist, unthinkingly suggested "Mexican pita," and was wordlessly slapped across the face for her trouble by prominent Chaucer bore Hiroyuki Takeda. The meeting adjourned shortly thereafter.
Similarly, a suggestion to replace "taco" with "unleavened open-face sandwich" was torpedoed by the observation that it's not technically the sandwich that was unleavened, but the bread used to make it. The suggestion was amended to "open-face sandwich made with unleavened bread," but stalled again when nearly 30% of the board complained that it was too long to be of any use.
In exasperation, Hilaire Dubois, a freelance lexical Onanist, unthinkingly suggested "Mexican pita," and was wordlessly slapped across the face for her trouble by prominent Chaucer bore Hiroyuki Takeda. The meeting adjourned shortly thereafter.
