French say non to English for Games bid
A decision by Paris to use an English slogan in its bid for the 2024 Olympic Games has incurred the wrath of the official guardian of the French language, the Academie Francaise.
It claims that the slogan, ‘‘Made for sharing’’, is unpatriotic and sounds like a junk food advertisement.
The institution, which has been policing the French language since the 17th century, said: ‘‘The Academie Francaise unanimously expresses its disapproval of the decision of the committee to give priority to the English language.’’
The Academie noted that since the foundation of the modern Olympics in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin, French had been the first official language of the movement. English was added later as a second one.
The Academie, which consists of 40 members elected from the country’s most august thinkers, has had mixed success over centuries of fighting to keep the purity of the Gallic tongue. REUTERS
Its efforts to stem the invasion of English since the 19th century have scored some victories. It promoted new words for computer, IT and software which were universally adopted – ordinateur, informatique and logiciel.
To add insult to injury, the bid organisers had chosen a trite advertising tag, the Academie argued.
‘‘This slogan has already been used in advertising campaigns for sweets [Quality Street], Cadbury Snaps biscuits and sliceable pizzas from the Burger King chain.’’
The bid committee defended the move before the slogan was projected on to the Eiffel Tower two weeks ago. It argued: ‘‘We have a slogan in English to allow us to address the world, and the 80 per cent of members of the International Olympic Committee who speak English.’’
It has also launched a French version: ‘‘Venez partager [Come and share].’’ The Times