I love English. But I donât love đźđ»đŽđčđ¶đ°đ¶đđșđ.
The use of anglicisms in đđđżđŒđœđČđźđ» đđżđČđ»đ°đ”, and particularly in France, has increased quite a bit during the last decades.
I donât put all of them on the same level, though. Some have made their way through French simply because languages do evolve over the centuries. Nothing unusual or wrong with that.
Hereâs how I personally classify anglicisms.
1. Anglicisms that I would consider "normal"
Iâm thinking about terms which donât have any equivalent in French that would be as idiomatic.
Two examples:
đđźđżđŻđČđ°đđČ
There is simply no other way to say it. You can go for đđđđđđđđđ , but this still doesnât refer to the device you use to cook the food.
đȘđČđČđž-đČđ»đ±
đčđđ đđ đ đđđđđđ is used in QuĂ©bec (I will talk about Canadian French in a future post) but not in Europe where itâs been part of our vocabulary since the beginning of the 20th century.
đ Letâs also add đđđđđđ, đ-đđđđ, đ đđđđ, đ đđđđ and so on. These words almost became French because they are the ones you hear when you acquire or learn the language.
2. Anglicisms that I would consider "unnecessary" (aka my bĂȘte noire đč)
Anglicisms that I consider unnecessary (and, truth be told, that make me cringe), are English terms that are used when a perfectly valid and common equivalent exist in French.
Letâs take the below sentences. They could easily be heard or read in France.
Jâai bien aimĂ© la punch line de la vidĂ©o du CEO que jâai downloadĂ©e.
â© What about phrase dâaccroche, PDG and tĂ©lĂ©chargĂ©e ?
Quelques happy few ont pu participer Ă lâactivitĂ© outdoor aprĂšs avoir bien checkĂ© leur inscription.
⩠What about privilégiés, en plein air and vérifié ?
I am not the AcadĂ©mie Françaiseâs advocate. Iâm just trying to figure out why we would use these (letâs face it, not so beautiful) wordings, if not đŻđźđżđŻđźđżđ¶đđșđ.
Many French-speaking people donât like anglicisms. There seems to be this tendency to think that only Quebecers care about this issue, but thatâs not the case.
đž
As a đđżđźđ»đđčđźđđŒđż, how do I cope with anglicisms?
If I donât receive any specific instructions related to this matter, I will do my best to avoid the use of unnecessary anglicisms in my translations because I know readers usually donât like it.
If some clients ask me to do otherwise, I will obviously follow their requirements, but I may try explaining to them why it might be a good idea to think about using ârealâ French words instead. Clients always appreciate our input, after all.
ĐĐŸĐŒĐ”ĐœŃĐ°ŃĐž