Friday, July 18, 2003

France bans e-mail
Not the concept--just the word.
AP | France Bans the Term 'E-Mail'
PARIS - Goodbye "e-mail", the French government says, and hello "courriel" - the term that linguistically sensitive France is now using to refer to electronic mail in official documents.
The Culture Ministry has announced a ban on the use of "e-mail" in all government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites, the latest step to stem an incursion of English words into the French lexicon.
The ministry's General Commission on Terminology and Neology insists Internet surfers in France are broadly using the term "courrier electronique" (electronic mail) instead of e-mail - a claim some industry experts dispute. "Courriel" is a fusion of the two words.

The French people, on the other hand, "insist" that the Culture Ministry has its t�te up its �ne.

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