English is the most spoken language in the world. Not like the native language —Chinese and Spanish beat it there— but yes if we count also to those who have learned it and manage it. And of course, we are surrounded by anglicisms because the feeling is that if we can use words in English, everything sounds better. In Spain, our RAE has been fighting against our obsession with using anglicisms for some time, but we are not the only ones: France has also declared a particular war on those terms.
‘Streamer’ no, ‘jouer en direct’ yes. The French language enrichment commission has proposed a series of terms in “good French” to replace the anglicisms linked to the world of video games. In the new Larousse 2023 it is proposed to do away with certain English terms and use French words instead.
Thus, ‘streamer’ should be replaced by ‘jouer en direct’ (‘player live’), ‘cloud gaming’ by ‘jeu vidéo en nuage’ (‘video game in the cloud’), ‘DLC’ by ‘extension téléchargeable ‘ (‘downloadable extension’) or ‘eSport’ for ‘jeu video de compétition’ (‘competition video game’). The complete list includes some more terms, such as those that should replace ‘matchmaking’, ‘pro-gamer’, ‘retrogaming’ or ‘season pass’.
It’s the war. The French have long been fighting against this mania of their citizens to use English terms when they could use their equivalents in French. As is the case with our RAE —we will talk more about this later— the new editions of its dictionaries are adapting and adding new words (NFC is one of the last examples) but also vetoing others. Nothing about ‘hashtag’: you have to use ‘mot-dièse’ (something like ‘word with a hash mark’). Don’t even think of using ‘digital’ (‘numérique’), ‘cash’ (‘espèces’), ‘vintage’ (‘d’époque’) or ‘deadline’ (‘dernier délai’).
The RAE has been in that war for years. An attractive woman appears on screen, hair in the wind, all very pink. It’s a 2016 advertisement for a perfume called Swine ‘by Rebeca Robinson’. You could ask for a free sample, and a lot of people did. When he received that sample, he was surprised: the announcement was published by the RAE to fight against Anglicisms. It turns out that “swine” means “pig”, so the perfume made you smell like ditto. “It sounds very good, but it smells very bad,” the RAE added sarcastically in a second announcement.
Please, let’s not use ‘technolanguage’. It is true that our Royal Spanish Academy cleans, fixes and gives splendor to Spanish, but it also recognizes that the language changes and evolves and is accepting new and popular words (‘cocreta’, ‘cachopo’, ‘quedada’, ‘bitcoin’ or ‘ webinar’ among the most recent). Sometimes perhaps they go too far in that obsession, because the “kicks to the dictionary” of the RAE itself has made technological terms that end up sounding the same, but which are very rare in writing, adapted to Spanish. Rúter, zum, ledes, cederrón, jáquer or selfie, among the most peculiar. The director of the RAE, Santiago Muñoz Machado, made them a request to Spanish communication directors: to avoid anglicisms and use “technolanguage as little as possible”.
In China, anglicisms (and foreign words) are not liked either. In 2010 the Asian giant banned to newspapers, publications and website owners using foreign words, and in particular English words. The regulatory body wanted to protect “the purity of the Chinese language” and prevent the use of “chinglish.” It doesn’t matter if learning that language opens doors: in Shanghai has been banned that elementary schools test their students in that language and English textbooks are also discouraged in universities.
Image | Rodnae Productions
