dance day 24

So there have been words invented for COVID-19 in French without the ok of the Académie Française.  What is the Académie Française you ask?  It’s THE pre-eminent council for matters pertaining to the French Language established in 1635.  It’s motto?  À l'immortalité.  Its members?  Les immortels.  To be a member you don’t apply you are invited.  And when you are a member you have a personalized sword (yes a SWORD) fabricated by jewelers such as Cartier.   

It’s serious business.  

So what’s the prob?  People were saying le covid.  Actually it’s la covid.  

So why were educated people such as the press and the government using le covid? (below screenshots today when I googled le covid)

 

 

 

Probably because most people think it’s a short version of coronavirus and in French virus is male.  But no, corrected the Académie, shaking their head and putting their hand on the handle of their sword ready to defend the French language.  The correct translation of covid is “maladie du coronavirus” and in French acronyms take the gender of the principle word and I guess maladie is the principle word and maladie is female.  They understand though, the confusion, but now you know (puts away sword).

What they have a harder time with is the word “déconfinement” which is quite frankly used everywhere (it means the end of the lockdown – to de lockdown if you will).  Why? 

As explained in their section “dire, ne pas dire” (emphasis on the “ne pas”)

 

 

« Depuis peu, les termes déconfiner et déconfinement sont très fréquemment employés mais ils ont la triste réputation d’être des néologismes mal venus, alors qu’ils sont bien formés, avec ce préfixe dé-, particulièrement productif. »

In other words, the word confinement (in which there is no problem) is the word fine (inheriting the Latin meaning “end" or "boundary”) and when you add the pre-fix “con” it gives it it’s meaning “with boundaries”. 

Do you see the problem here?  “Dé” is also a prefix   So “déconfinement” is to add a prefix to a word already pre-fixed!  L'horreur!  Not only that it’s like saying without with boundaries.  C’est moche!  

(By the way you can double pre-fix in English.  Example? “Over – re – act”.  Haha)

Ok so the Académie frowns on “déconfinement” but it’s used everywhere including by the president of France!  So who will win?  Forty people armed with swords?  Or the president of the French government equipped with an army?  

My wager is on the Académie.  They’re there for life, the president max ten years.  If they don’t chop off his head they’ll just wait him out.