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09/157

France officially forbid the words "pad" or "tablet"...

link shared Feb 22, 2011 • 2 comments • 1167 views

... and decided that from now on (since Sunday, Feb the 20th) the official terms would be "tablette" or "ardoise" (writing board).

It is precised that the names "iPad" or "iSlate" can't be used as generic terms for those tablets.

We'll see if those new words can enter the general langage as others couldn't in the past. (though "tablette" is really near "tablet" anyway, so it should go perfectly!).

Huge

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Comments
Good luck, La Commission. Um, have they had any luck getting rid of "le weekend?"
02.22.11 •
Ho nooooo... Fortunately, we still have (and love) week-ends! :))

Seriously, we use many US words and I'm one that like it since language must be moving, modernising, mixing and melting with new ones. Especially in those days of global communication. I'm not saying that everything should change of course. I love my French!
But it's funny to notice that —as far as technology is concerned— the Frenches who "decide" are so very cold with the use of the original terms, which are often American of course.
But in the same time, they found some really cool French words to replace the US ones. My favorite being "courriel" for "mail" which is cleverly derived from the French "courrier" (snail mail). And we have many more, quite cute too.

But for sure, we use a lot of US words, everytime, everywhere, even when there are some nicer and more precise French words (which is silly really).
02.22.11 •
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