this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2024
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[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 179 points 8 months ago (6 children)

Québec has language laws that prevent businesses from using English in their advertising among other things, and some controversial rulings have come from it. One such ruling was the use of "le week-end". Québec was punishing businesses who used this term instead of "la fin de semaine". There was an interview done with an official from the language police where the interviewer had a dictionary from France which showed "le week-end" is proper French. The Québec official said "France doesn't decide what words are French. We do."

[–] gentooer@programming.dev 33 points 8 months ago (7 children)

L'Académie française disagrees

[–] Ranvier@sopuli.xyz 15 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Prescriptivist jerks. Let's all dress up in $50,000 robes, call ourselves immortals, and pretend that we can control language.

[–] 5PACEBAR@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

L'académie française deez nuts

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[–] UnculturedSwine@lemmy.world 21 points 8 months ago (1 children)

TIL the French Language Police is a thing

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 7 points 8 months ago

Il y en a deux ! Une pour la France et une pour le Québec mais la majorité des locuteurs du français sont en Afrique.

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[–] Davel23@fedia.io 74 points 8 months ago (1 children)
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[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 48 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I never got this: why do people in France speak an American language instead of a European one?

[–] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 52 points 8 months ago

See, the problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur...

[–] MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca 26 points 8 months ago (6 children)

French-Canadian from Quebec here: the same way an American will use a french word mid sentence to add a certain je-ne-sais-quoi

But they tend to go way overboard with them, ending with bastardized, barely comprehensible french. And they dare correct us when we use the proper french terms instead of the ones they abuse.

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[–] bratosch@lemm.ee 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don't get it. How is French an American language? I don't understand the meme overall either

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 22 points 8 months ago (2 children)

French is spoken in France and parts of north America. Most people are very emotional about their native language so they feel every deviation of it is just wrong.

The most common and seemingly natural view is that France French is "right" and oversea French is not but honestly it's arbitrary. OP turned it around and so I did too, eventhough I myself live in a non French European country. Well, we all hate our neighbors and the enemy is my enemy is my friend I guess.

[–] pancakes@sh.itjust.works 20 points 8 months ago (7 children)

I've heard Canadian French is closer to the French France Frenched a few hundred years ago.

[–] weariedfae@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago (7 children)

IIRC that's correct.

Kinda like how the American accent is closer to OG British English than the current British English pronunciation.

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[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I once was at a work function where I saw a French-Canadian and a Walloon French (Belgium) mock the French spoken by a Parisian.

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[–] popemichael@lemmy.sdf.org 36 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I lived in both 'French Canada', and France at one point in my life.

In my experience, they all consider themselves the best thing France ever made and the other side are the equivalent of "rednecks"

To be fair, they both can be right.

[–] zaphod@feddit.de 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

To be fair if you're used to "metropolitan" French then some Québécois accents can sound very "redneck".

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[–] cmder@lemmy.world 26 points 8 months ago (3 children)
[–] Xamith@lemmy.ca 7 points 8 months ago

Why does that big Spain patch look like Ontario?

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[–] DeathbringerThoctar@lemmy.world 19 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Canada is home to the largest French speaking population in the world that has never surrendered to Germany.

[–] diverging@lemmy.ml 21 points 8 months ago (5 children)

I think that is DR Congo. More french speakers than France.

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[–] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 12 points 8 months ago (2 children)

They made up for it by surrendering to the British and having their land sold to the Americans.

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[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 18 points 8 months ago (6 children)

That's a very un-Picard-like Maneuver

[–] Anarchie99@feddit.de 15 points 8 months ago

Every french speaker is delusional.

[–] xkbx@startrek.website 13 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Oh please, Ontario is just a polite and liberal mini-USA

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 26 points 8 months ago (2 children)

if Ontario defines what "liberal" is, then we're doomed.

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Depends on where in Ontario we're talking about .... everything south of Orillia is basically the United States, between Orillia and North Bay is like the Ozarks, between North Bay and Thunder Bay is equal parts socialist and capitalist, and the entire France sized north is the chaotic frontier (I know because I'm indigenous and this is where my family is from).

Ontario isn't one mentality and every election cycle, there is more and more of a need to break up the regions because the south doesn't represent the north and the north is constantly in conflict with the south.

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Does Ontario only look liberal in comparison with Alberta?

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[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 7 points 8 months ago

Yeah real french is skipping french class and forgetting that quebec exists :)

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.ca 13 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Are we talking the language? West of Quebec French is rare.

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Ontario has some significant pockets of french Canadians

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I once encountered a theory that North American english was potentially closer to historical english because it was less influenced by neighboring countries. I doubt that, now. But it's an interesting idea.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

North American French is like that

It is much more formal and traditional compared to France French (No idea about Haiti)

Because of laws preventing loan words

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[–] evergreen@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)
[–] comador@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

As a yank who lived in the UK (East Sussex) for several years, I can share the sentiments of my mates there that they believe we Americans still speak a more traditional version of the language than they do now. Specifically pronunciation of words.

For example, Americans have retained the pronunciation of the final “r” in words like “father” and “mother,” while the UK has dropped it. Americans have maintained the “flat a” sound of cat in words like “path” and “class” whereas the UK has mostly replaced that sound with the “broad a” of “father.”

It's not an exact science, but the rate of change in the language there has gone beyond the 18th century version we Americans still speak today and thus, it can be said American English, at least pronunciation, is more traditional.

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.ca 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Then there's the people who say Shakespeare makes much more sense, flows better, and better play on words when spoken with an older UK accent (or Irish?), so nothing like North American.

(Lots of search results but no easy blurb to read on what it was. But I recall hearing some and it was nothing like North American accent.)

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[–] LeroyJenkins@lemmy.world 12 points 8 months ago

true France is actually Cameroon

[–] 7heo@lemmy.ml 11 points 8 months ago (7 children)

Mon très cher « La manœuvre Picard », bien que je partage absolument votre avis ; je me dois, à mon plus amer regret, de vous informer que vous avez irrémédiablement et royalement fucked up votre carte.

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[–] MissJinx@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago (3 children)
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[–] noobnarski@feddit.de 10 points 8 months ago

Look at stop signs in France and Quebec, then you know whats up.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 9 points 8 months ago

I have a love/hate relationship with the people of Quebec.

It's mostly hate....

[–] groats_survivor@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)
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[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

Viva la ~~France~~ Canada

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