Franglais freaks Quebec

Language remains a hot button across Canada:

Quebec’s ‘Language Police’ Take Aim at Sneaky English Slang

Authorities fret over ‘Franglais,’ the creep of words like ‘cool’ or ‘email’ into French discourse; even elevator music is scrutinized.

By Vipal Monga, WSJ (12/13/23)

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Although French is the official language of Quebec’s government, education, courts and commerce, provincial authorities are alarmed by what they see as the waning of French in workplaces and homes.

A particular concern is the creep of “Franglais,” the mixing of French with English slang. In an ad campaign launched earlier this year, on TV and social media, authorities warned of the pernicious spread of lingo such as “cool” and “chill”—even “email.” 

A provincial ad parodying Franglais also threw in the English words “sick,” “insane” and “sketch.” 

Longtime Montreal residents readily cop to committing Franglais. Kristian Gravenor, a 60-year-old journalist, peppers his French with bilingual flourishes such as “field trip,” to indicate an outing.

“People find it spicy and delightful,” said Gravenor, who takes a Darwinian attitude toward the matter. “It’s survival of the best words, as far as I’m concerned.”

The article recounts many horror stories about the zeal of French enforcers, such as the sign in a provincial government office for renewing health insurance which indicates that service is available in English for those who qualify.  It is in English.

…nous sommes ravis de vous servir en français

I love the adjective "ravis" (tiré du participe passé du verbe ravir).

In Quebec, KFC is PFK, leaving the Colonel in the dust.

 

Selected readings

• "Frananglais or Camfranglais?" (2/22/07)
• "Quoi ce-qu'elle a parlé about?", 10/10/2003
• "'Bien je jamais'?" (6/28/19)
• "French vs. English" (8/2/15)
• "Boris Johnson: 'prenez un grip', 'donnez-moi un break'" (9/22/21)
• "Death of the Queen's English Society" (6/6/12)
• "Centrally-planned peeving" (10/17/11)
• "French as "an index of corruption"" (9/22/10)
• "Code-switching conscious?" (10/4/08)
• "New NPR blog: Code Switch" (4/9/13)
• "An orgy of code-switching" (11/6/15)
• "Prolific code-switching in Vietnamese" (4/14/16)
• "Polylingualism" (4/20/16)
• "Archive for Code switching"

[h.t. Mark Metcalf]