blogueur(euse), defined
This ZDNet article reports that French dictionaries Le Larousse and Le Petit Robert will be bringing their 2008 cuvées up to geek speed.
The highlighted definitions are telling; while etymologists appear to have buckled under relentless IT anglophonic domination by including such françisé terms as "podcaster," "pitch," and "pop-up," (hard-core Parisian lilt required), the definitions of the words themselves harken back to days when anglicisms were far less tolerated. The definition of a podcast, for example, notes that an internaute can upload such files onto their "baladeur numérique."
There is certainly something to be said for efficiency in communication, and by adopting the English terms for high-tech gadgetry and tinkery, the Larousse and Petit Robert have opened up discursive doors that might have been slammed shut in the past (see la loi Bas-Lauriol and Toubon). And yet, I wonder if the traditionally combative language defenders haven't chosen the wrong moment to get soft on the war on words. The word "podcast" isn't merely an innocuous, nerdy American amalgam of IT junk, but a loud and clear shout-out to Steve Jobs and his silicon empire. Without spiraling into an alarmist anti-Apple manifesto here, it strikes me that if the keepers of semantic culture ever had a reason to object to the official adoption of a loaded Anglo word, this might have been it.
Lax vocab policies can get out of hand! Why, just the other evening J.B. was explaining a situation at work involving a software developer and a consultant, and at one point used to the word "geek" to excuse the developer's anti-social shenanigans. He paused mid-sentence and proceeded to define the meaning of "un geek," for my benefit. Squinting at him with the tentative beginnings of a grin, I waited for him to laugh and acknowledge the humor of him defining English slang to me. Unfazed, he continued his story while I silently contemplated mentioning what a shame it is that the French don't have a word for "entrepreneur." (and the fact that not only is "geek" an American word, but its primordial meaning has nothing to do with computers, the World of Warcraft, or RAM, but a revolting circus act.)
The highlighted definitions are telling; while etymologists appear to have buckled under relentless IT anglophonic domination by including such françisé terms as "podcaster," "pitch," and "pop-up," (hard-core Parisian lilt required), the definitions of the words themselves harken back to days when anglicisms were far less tolerated. The definition of a podcast, for example, notes that an internaute can upload such files onto their "baladeur numérique."
There is certainly something to be said for efficiency in communication, and by adopting the English terms for high-tech gadgetry and tinkery, the Larousse and Petit Robert have opened up discursive doors that might have been slammed shut in the past (see la loi Bas-Lauriol and Toubon). And yet, I wonder if the traditionally combative language defenders haven't chosen the wrong moment to get soft on the war on words. The word "podcast" isn't merely an innocuous, nerdy American amalgam of IT junk, but a loud and clear shout-out to Steve Jobs and his silicon empire. Without spiraling into an alarmist anti-Apple manifesto here, it strikes me that if the keepers of semantic culture ever had a reason to object to the official adoption of a loaded Anglo word, this might have been it.
Lax vocab policies can get out of hand! Why, just the other evening J.B. was explaining a situation at work involving a software developer and a consultant, and at one point used to the word "geek" to excuse the developer's anti-social shenanigans. He paused mid-sentence and proceeded to define the meaning of "un geek," for my benefit. Squinting at him with the tentative beginnings of a grin, I waited for him to laugh and acknowledge the humor of him defining English slang to me. Unfazed, he continued his story while I silently contemplated mentioning what a shame it is that the French don't have a word for "entrepreneur." (and the fact that not only is "geek" an American word, but its primordial meaning has nothing to do with computers, the World of Warcraft, or RAM, but a revolting circus act.)
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