STING2 said:Dreadsox,
"Sting, I think you have typed this to me before. I know your opinion, and I disagree with it. Anything new to add to this?"
So are you implying that I can't respond to something you posted? Did you ever come up with a number of countries that in your view would represent a "proper" occupation force? Is it more than the four countries that occupied Germany after World War II? Or the single country that occupied Japan after World War II?
verte76 said:I think we need to avoid confusing the ordinary French people and their government.
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.
nbcrusader said:
You're comparing apples to oranges here. France has a long history or trying to keep their langauge as "pure" as possible. This e-mail flap is not part of a new phenomenon. By contrast, American English is a hodgepodge of several languages, including an early form of French. If the US were to do something like this it would not be because it has a long history of doing so, and would therefore cause a different reponse.Please. The responses to this article would be a 180 and flaming hot if the US tried to exclude the influence of another culture.
ThatGuy said:You're comparing apples to oranges here.
Yes, but that's changing the argument. You can argue the general point, but then it loses all relevance to the point at hand. France is not simply attempting to limit "cultural influences." It is trying to keep its language as pure as possible, something it has a history of doing. Your attempt to generalize the specific incident makes your argument as relevant as one that is hypothetical.nbcrusader said:
That is why I broadened the scope of my response to "cultural influences" and not just language. I am well aware of France's historical desire to protect its language. It goes well beyond that.
I'm sure you're right.STING2 said:I'm sure there are plenty of French people who are not at all concerned about this and will probably continue to use the term "E-mail".
BonoVoxSupastar said:The sad thing is when I traveled to France, Germany, Italy, Czech, etc. three years ago I could always go to a restaurant or bar where they spoke English. Not that that is sad in it's own right, it's sad that it's not reciprocal. These major cities in these countries almost require their employees to speak English as their second language just to cater to us. We don't do this. I've lived in some major attraction cities and I've never had to speak another language for tourists. It's like we expect it of other countries, but we don't give it back. It's arrogance. I applaud them for wanting to keep their langauge pure, and who are we to care.
BonoVoxSupastar said:You know this whole thing is pretty sad. Some people are going to see this as a slap in the face, some are going to see it as hypocritical. But when it comes down to it, it's nothing. As diverse as we try to pride ourselves on here in America it's nothing. Who cares?
The sad thing is when I traveled to France, Germany, Italy, Czech, etc. three years ago I could always go to a restaurant or bar where they spoke English. Not that that is sad in it's own right, it's sad that it's not reciprocal. These major cities in these countries almost require their employees to speak English as their second language just to cater to us. We don't do this. I've lived in some major attraction cities and I've never had to speak another language for tourists. It's like we expect it of other countries, but we don't give it back. It's arrogance. I applaud them for wanting to keep their langauge pure, and who are we to care.