Non to English at the Paris Olympics, say French MPs

PARIS

Having long battled the creeping use of English in advertising, music and film, French MPs have declared a new struggle: Keeping their home Olympics this year free from anglicisms.

In a resolution adopted on May 2, the lower house of parliament urged organizers of the 2024 Paris Games, as well as athletes, trainers and journalists to use French as much as possible.

Annie Genevard, the conservative sponsor of the resolution, expressed alarm to fellow MPs that "the Olympic Games reflect the loss of influence of our language."

She recalled the much-criticized slogan used for Paris' original bid for the Games, "Made for Sharing," as well as other recent government-backed campaigns to promote the country such as "Choose France" or "Made in France."

Even the French rugby team had "Rugby World Cup" inscribed on their jerseys during the competition in France last year instead of "La Coupe du Monde de rugby."

"All of these examples demonstrate that the fight for the French language ... is never finished, even in the most official spheres," Genevard added.

The march of English globally has long infuriated French governments who have sought to protect the purity of their language at home while promoting its use abroad.

The country has an institution, the Academie Francaise, which has produced state-sanctioned dictionaries for three centuries that document and approve new terms or expressions, often translations of commonly used English words.

"Let's hope that 'planche a roulettes' replaces skateboard and 'rouleau du cap' point break [a surfing term], but I have my doubts," added Genevard.