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<blockquote data-quote="ThreeShadows" data-source="post: 294605" data-attributes="member: 6370"><p>Hey, Marge! The Académie Française fights americanisms ferociously. They are always good for a laugh. This is from Wikipedia:</p><p>The Académie is France's official authority on the usages, vocabulary, and grammar of the French language, although its recommendations carry no legal power sometimes, even governmental authorities disregard the Académie's rulings. The Académie publishes a dictionary of the French language, known as the <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_de_l%27Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise" target="_blank">Dictionnaire de l'Académie française</a></em>, which is regarded as official in France. A special Commission composed of several (but not all) of the members of the Académie undertakes the compilation of the work. The Académie has completed eight editions of the dictionary, which have been published in 1694, 1718, 1740, 1762, 1798, 1835, 1878, and 1935. It continues work on the ninth edition, of which the first volume (<em>A</em> to <em>Enzyme</em>) appeared in 1992, and the second volume (<em>Éocène</em> to <em>Mappemonde</em>) in 2000. In 1778, the Académie attempted to compile a "historical dictionary" of the French language; this idea, however, was later abandoned, the work never progressing past the letter <em>A</em>.</p><p> As [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_culture"]French culture[/ame] has come under increasing pressure with the widespread availability of [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language"]English[/ame] media, the Académie has tried to prevent the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicization"]Anglicization[/ame] of the French language. For example, the Académie has recommended, with mixed success, that some [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loanword"]loanwords[/ame] from English (such as <em>walkman</em>, <em>software</em> and <em>email</em>) be avoided, in favour of words derived from French (<em>baladeur</em>, <em>logiciel</em>, and <em>courriel</em> respectively). Moreover, the Académie has worked to modernize French [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthography"]orthography[/ame]. The body, however, has sometimes been criticized for behaving in an excessively conservative fashion. A recent controversy involved the officialization of feminine equivalents for the names of several professions. For instance, in 1997, [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Jospin"]Lionel Jospin[/ame]'s government began using the feminine noun "<em>la ministre</em>" to refer to a female minister, following the official practice of Canada, Belgium and Switzerland and a common, though until then unofficial, practice in France. The Académie, however, insisted on the traditional use of the masculine noun, "<em>le ministre</em>," for a minister of either gender. Use of either form remains controversial.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ThreeShadows, post: 294605, member: 6370"] Hey, Marge! The Académie Française fights americanisms ferociously. They are always good for a laugh. This is from Wikipedia: The Académie is France's official authority on the usages, vocabulary, and grammar of the French language, although its recommendations carry no legal power sometimes, even governmental authorities disregard the Académie's rulings. The Académie publishes a dictionary of the French language, known as the [I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_de_l%27Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise"]Dictionnaire de l'Académie française[/URL][/I], which is regarded as official in France. A special Commission composed of several (but not all) of the members of the Académie undertakes the compilation of the work. The Académie has completed eight editions of the dictionary, which have been published in 1694, 1718, 1740, 1762, 1798, 1835, 1878, and 1935. It continues work on the ninth edition, of which the first volume ([I]A[/I] to [I]Enzyme[/I]) appeared in 1992, and the second volume ([I]Éocène[/I] to [I]Mappemonde[/I]) in 2000. In 1778, the Académie attempted to compile a "historical dictionary" of the French language; this idea, however, was later abandoned, the work never progressing past the letter [I]A[/I]. As [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_culture"]French culture[/ame] has come under increasing pressure with the widespread availability of [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language"]English[/ame] media, the Académie has tried to prevent the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicization"]Anglicization[/ame] of the French language. For example, the Académie has recommended, with mixed success, that some [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loanword"]loanwords[/ame] from English (such as [I]walkman[/I], [I]software[/I] and [I]email[/I]) be avoided, in favour of words derived from French ([I]baladeur[/I], [I]logiciel[/I], and [I]courriel[/I] respectively). Moreover, the Académie has worked to modernize French [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthography"]orthography[/ame]. The body, however, has sometimes been criticized for behaving in an excessively conservative fashion. A recent controversy involved the officialization of feminine equivalents for the names of several professions. For instance, in 1997, [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Jospin"]Lionel Jospin[/ame]'s government began using the feminine noun "[I]la ministre[/I]" to refer to a female minister, following the official practice of Canada, Belgium and Switzerland and a common, though until then unofficial, practice in France. The Académie, however, insisted on the traditional use of the masculine noun, "[I]le ministre[/I]," for a minister of either gender. Use of either form remains controversial. [/QUOTE]
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