O Canada! > Canadian > Canadian Chat > More Stupidity

More Stupidity

There is nothing that the language police do that is not a stupid waste of our tax-dollars. The entire OLF is a worthless black hole of money that has never accomplished a single thing that is beneficial to society.
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Developer: Tomato/MLPPP, Linux/MLPPP, etc »fixppp.org

reply to EUS
Heard that on the radio... but then again, can't be surprised when their last announcement was that Walmart's name isn't French enough.

I'm surprised they still haven't hit Chapters, Home Depot, Futureshop and Bestbuy.
Because when I go shopping, I want to go shopping at Magasinfuture and Meilleureachat!

reply to EUS
There's nothing more pathetic than someone who is an international laughingstock and is too damned stupid to realize it. That's what these language zealots have become. They've decimated their own economy and are doing their best to destroy what's left of it.

It's been almost 15 years since CBS ran this "60 Minutes" piece on the comical idiocies of the language police. These guys just never learn.

reply to ekster
My guess is because "Home Depot" is a registered trademark vs two English words

reply to EUS
One of my best friends in Montreal has a Pure Laine Quebecoise Mom and an Italian Father who both had the good sense to fight to send their kids to English Catholic Schools in the 70's.

To top it off, my friend swears on a stack of bibles that Quebec Nationalists can do no wrong!!! (Possibly just to piss me off )

I can't wait to tell him about this tonight when I call him up. At the very least I could see his parents in divorce court over something like this

I work with a few Italians, I have never seen so much anger. The OLF attack on the Italian word pasta has been deemed unforgivable, the OLF might as well have gone and spit on whichever religious icon Italians love the most, after punching their mothers.
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~ Project Hope ~

reply to Wolfie00

reply to Guspaz

reply to elwoodblues
No, the point of the article is the exact opposite -- that not even a registered trademark is protection against these idiots. Walmart, for instance, operates in 15 countries outside the US, and AFAIK have been challenged on their name only in Quebec, which isn't even a country. If I was running a large multinational like that I'd just pull out of Quebec entirely, on the basis that it's not worth the multitude of headaches that it takes to do business there.

The best thing I ever did was leave that province. Nice place to visit but really not a place where non-francophones are welcome even if they've been there for generations.

reply to Pousser
You're right about the apostrophe-s fiasco, but Sears isn't an example because it's Sears everywhere, that's actually the name. But yes, the language police did attack stores like Eaton's and Simpson's and many others, despite the fact that those names were registered trademarks. So in Quebec, despite having been called Eaton's since its founding, Eaton's became "Eaton" for the remainder of its days. Which is kind of like calling "Ernie's Place" just "Ernie", or better still, "Francois".

reply to Mike2009

reply to Mike2009
We got out in 96, right after the last Neverendum. I'm now patiently waiting for the rest of the hostages my family to leave as well. They've been making noises and plotting patiently ever since the She-Beast, Marois was elected....

I fully to expect to see them out of there by the end of this year at the latest

reply to EUS

Re: More Stupidity

said by »www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/200···101.html :

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Here are some cases that have attracted the interest of the language watchdog or people seeking to protect the French language:

1996: A woman warns the owner of a Quebec pet store she might get in touch with language authorities because Peekaboo, the parrot she wanted to buy, didn't speak French.

1999: The Old Navy chain is asked to rename its stores "La Vieille Rivière." It never happens.

2000: The owner of an Indian restaurant is told he's breaking the law by having coasters for "Double Diamond," a British beer.

2001: Some people express disappointment that race-car driver Jacques Villeneuve calls his restaurant "Newtown."

2005: Language authorities say they will investigate complaints that Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay's party used the word "Go" on its campaign posters and pamphlets, as in "Go Montreal."

2007: Imperial Oil says it will keep its Quebec-only "Marché Express" name for its Esso gas stations after protests against a proposal to change the name to "On the Run," as the stations are known elsewhere in North America.

2007: Language activists decry that callers to many Quebec government offices are told to "press nine" for English before instructions are delivered in French. Some of the departments have since changed the message to put English at the end.

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What's French for "shawarma" and for "chow mein" ?

reply to Guspaz

reply to EUS
Isn't Quebec French just a bastardized version of French?