AlanBarber.Org
Monday, July 14, 2003
French banned from using email
Well ok they aren't actually banned from using email. The law states that all government publications must use the term "courriel" instead of "email". "Courriel" is sort for "courrier electronique" or "electronic mail" in English.
It was originally published in a Austrailian news site.
Talk about politics run amok! What can I say? This is exactly why governments should keep to dealing with the basics; Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Worrying about what language people use in a field is just downright moronic. Out of all the things that need to be dealt with, I highly doubt this needed the time they probably spend on it. This is modern government after all. It takes months of debates, studies, etc to get any law created and passed. I'm sorry but I can't help but laugh! Do they actually worry that using "email" instead of "courriel" is going to somehow undermine French culture and needs to be stopped? I just can't fathom that someone would actually spend conscience thought on a topic like this!
Maybe it's just because in the United States we actually embrace other cultures. Yes I'm sure some will bring up race issues or other junk saying we don't but I ask you to take a look around. In your day to day life I'm sure you use words and terms that come from all over the world and you don't realize it.
I would hope the French citizens would speak up and tell their government that it's silly to worry about this. But being France I'm sure a good majority actually agree and support anything to stick it to the United States.
Shesh!
on 07/14/2003 at 08:18 PM