Frogs coveting their language

For a long time I have enjoyed laughing at French attempts to keep the French language pure. Maybe that's because English speakers don't care about keeping English chaste. We have an homogenized language -- if it's common usage, we're happy. What do the French think will happen if English words creep into their vocabulary? They can't be worried about becoming bigger assholes.

The UK's PC Advisor (via TechDirt) lays out the official process the French government uses to fight off the English invasion. The classic example was the change from "email" to "couriel". A newer one is "ipod".

---

Although the arrival of podcasting in the French language is something of a fait accompli, that didn't stop the French government from passing a decree in March to encourage the use of an alternative term: "la diffusion pour baladeur". Baladeur is French for portable music player, and spares the French from erroneously referring to any such device as an "iPod" or "Walkman," regardless of the actual brand, as native English speakers tend to do.

---

These frogs crack me up.

---

The goal of the meeting was to discuss a number of new terms that the commission was considering, including "cercle de confiance" (circle of trust), "espace de confiance" (trusted environment) and "maîtrise de l'archivage" (records management), all of which met with near-unanimous approval.

---

We English speakers need an official meeting to stop using the term "frogs". We should call them "toads" from this point forward.