This was spotted in Paris and is a perfect example of English creeping in where it isn't always welcome. Something else that has occured to me since writing the piece below is that 'Liker' would have to be pronounced something like 'licked', as in 'Il m'a liké', or 'He licked me', which isn't the same thing at all...
I originally published this on my Paris & I photo blog. I've included the accompanying text to give you an idea of what happens over there.
Likez-Vous Zee English?
If ever evidence were needed that the sacred French language
is forever being compromised by neologisms from the anglosaxon canon, here's
some.
On an official poster spotted near my place comprising a whole bunch of verbs the likes of which you can do in the neighbourhood, such as jouer (play), chanter (sing), sourire (smile), applaudir (applaud) and so on, it's rather easy to identify the odd one out.
Liker isn't nor has it ever been, to my knowledge, an
official verb recognised by the hallowed Académie Française.
Literary giants would be shaking the Panthéon if they saw that
word just above the notorious little thumbs up now synonymous with Facebook's global
empire.
Frenchies are now perfectly au fait with phrases such as Il m'a liké, Il m'a friendé, and the collégiens worst nightmare... Il m'a unliké, le salaud !(He unliked me, the bastard!)
And I doubt it'll end there, despite what the 'immortals' of the Académiemight wish otherwise. After all, we have chatcher, browser and le mail, all frowned upon by the committees that be, and all well extablished in the adolescent and professional on-line vernacular. Watch out for tweeter (v),le cloud (n), forwarder (v), texter (v), smart phone (n) and why notiPhoner, iPader (v) or Androider(v), as the original concept of phoning fades away on a wobbly wavelength.
This invasion of French by cutting edge English isn't to everyone's taste, but
what about you? Vous likez tout ça ou pas ?On an official poster spotted near my place comprising a whole bunch of verbs the likes of which you can do in the neighbourhood, such as jouer (play), chanter (sing), sourire (smile), applaudir (applaud) and so on, it's rather easy to identify the odd one out.
Frenchies are now perfectly au fait with phrases such as Il m'a liké, Il m'a friendé, and the collégiens worst nightmare... Il m'a unliké, le salaud !(He unliked me, the bastard!)
And I doubt it'll end there, despite what the 'immortals' of the Académiemight wish otherwise. After all, we have chatcher, browser and le mail, all frowned upon by the committees that be, and all well extablished in the adolescent and professional on-line vernacular. Watch out for tweeter (v),le cloud (n), forwarder (v), texter (v), smart phone (n) and why notiPhoner, iPader (v) or Androider(v), as the original concept of phoning fades away on a wobbly wavelength.
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Created & written by Sab Will
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