Macron hits rock bottom with franglais phrase in speech

EMMANUEL MACRON found himself the target of Gallic mockery when he used an English term at a key speech, days after launching a global drive to promote French as a “world language”.

Commentators took umbrage at the French president’s decision to dabble in “franglais” during a speech on artificial intelligence last Thursday at the College de France, a hallowed centre of academic excellence in Paris. At one point, Mr Macron, a fluent English speaker, intoned: “La démocratie est le système le plus bottom-up de la terre” (Democracy is the most bottom-up system in the world).

Some clearly misunderstood Mr Macron, concerned that the word “bottom” was a little risqué for a head of state. Others confused it with “bottoms up”, the drinking term. Those who did follow his drift said that he was merely stating “power from the people”.

However, the expression drew howls of protest from language purists. Bernard Pivot, a former host of a literary TV chat show and self-styled defender of the French language, was appalled. “This phrase devalues French-speaking democracy,” he lamented.

A former investment banker, Mr Macron, whose wife Brigitte was a French teacher, has a penchant for anglicisms, recently telling business leaders, in English, at the Davos World Economic Forum that “France is back”.

His entourage often calls him “le boss”, he speaks of France as “une startup nation”, and sings the praises of “le co-working” and “le brainstorming”. Volunteers are known as “les helpers”.

The controversy comes two weeks after Mr Macron promoted French as a “world language” and urged Francophone countries to resist the temptation to turn to English. But he insisted that France should not be shut to other languages. To prove his point, he gave a long interview on artificial intelligence to Wired magazine – in English.