Re: [OT] English language [was:Re: OpenOffice.org - how to install additional languages?]
Not sure I want to get into this ;) - but ...
Ron Johnson wrote:
> On 04/03/2011 02:54 PM, David Jardine wrote:
>> On Sun, Apr 03, 2011 at 03:08:55PM -0400, Doug wrote:
>>> has the force and power
>>> of law. It is _illegal_ to name anything public in English. If you
>>> have a store and call it by an English
>>> name you will be forced to change it to something French. The only
>>> exception I have heard of
>>> is "Le Drugstore." I don't know how they get away with it.
>>
>> What populist propaganda have you been reading? How do they say
>> "Disneyland" in French?
>>
>
> Terre de Disney?
> Terre de Souris?
A glance here reveals several restaurants in Paris that seem to be
willing to break the law in that case:
http://www.placesinfrance.com/restaurants_in_paris_france.html
>>> If English, either British or American, had such an academy, we
>>> would still be speaking the
>>> language of Henry VIII! And we would never have had the opportunity
>>> to get rid of the French
>>> spelling of things like "centre."
>>
>> ... or "table" ? Come on! A nationalistic dictionary compiler (anti-
>> British
>
> Webster completed his /American Dictionary/ while at U. Cambridge.
> Would an anti-Brit really go to England to do his work?
Interestingly, Samuel Johnson's admiration for the French Academy was
what inspired him to write his dictionary, and it seems it was in part
due to this admiration he chose the French-style spellings. "Center"
etc. was more common before that.
No political points, just observations ;)
--
Chris Jackson
Shadowcat Systems Ltd.
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