5 ms·

is that like stop signs saying arret when in france they say "stop"?

belval 5y ago
Not quite, the stop/arrêt thing is because of a law that says our official language is French so everything HAS to be in French. If a product's packaging does not have a French side it simply cannot be sold in Quebec unless it has an exception of sorts.
- joemi 5y ago
  There's a great bit about that in the movie Canadian Bacon where a police officer in Canada (not sure if it was actually in Quebec or not) catches some Americans writing anti-Canadian graffiti. The officer informs them that they need to have French translations and helps them add it, and then moves on.
  - matrix2596 5y ago
    You must see the Latin correction in life of Brian then
  - kzrdude 5y ago
    Sounds very Pythonesque, indeed
  - bmn__ 5y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyO1ILQAGsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyO1ILQAGsU
    - joemi 5y ago
      Thanks. It's been quite a while since I've seen it. Guess I slightly mis-remembered it, but got the gist of it right.
- wwalexander 5y ago
  In Montreal, there is a flashing neon sign on top of a former flour factory [1]. This sign originally read: FARINE FIVE ROSES FLOUR The first line is French for “flour”, the second line is the brand name, and third line is, well, “flour” in English. When Bill 101 passed, they had to remove “flour” from the sign as it was an English word. However, they were allowed to keep “Five Roses”, as opposed to “Cinq Roses”, since it’a a brand name, so now it simply reads: FARINE FIVE ROSES The owners have apparently tried to take the sign down, since the brand has since been sold to their competitors, but capitulated to public outcry. Apparently, it’s quite expensive to maintain, but I can see why locals don’t want it to go. It adds a lot of character to the skyline. [1] https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/farine-five-roses-sign https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/farine-five-roses-sign
- dnautics 5y ago
  Is "stopper" not a valid french verb? I was taught it was.
kzrdude 5y ago
I'm a bit interested in why all the European countries standardized on STOP for that sign. Apparently that's mandated by the convention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Sign... which has wide support in Europe and sporadically other places. It's impressive/weird to me that the convention got all the countries to use the english word on the stop sign, for consistency.
- jorams 5y ago
  While I don't know the answer, I would guess it has something to do with it not just being the English word. It's also the Dutch word (spelled exactly the same) and, based on some random clicking in Google Translate, Croation, Norwegian and Czech. It's a secondary translation in a bunch of other languages. I don't know how much of that changed after the road signs, but it looks like a good international basis.
  - kzrdude 5y ago
    it is not norwegian, as we would write STOPP in norwegian. In that sense, it's annoying, it's a word you understand, but the sign is also "misspelled".
    - hnbad 5y ago
      Same in German. I remember teachers lecturing us in school about this. "Stop" certainly has become an acceptable spelling in colloquial German for some people because of this, much to the despair of language purists. Even the Duden (German standard reference dictionary) seems to have adopted it even if with some caveats: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/stop https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/stop
      - apocolyps6 5y ago
        > Even the Duden Good. The purpose of a dictionary is to record how language is used, not to gatekeep or social engineer what is "proper" language and what isn't. Linguistic prescriptivism is the purview of bigots and school teachers.

Not quite, the stop/arrêt thing is because of a law that says our official language is French so everything HAS to be in French. If a product's packaging does not have a French side it simply cannot be sold in Quebec unless it has an exception of sorts.

joemi 5y ago
There's a great bit about that in the movie Canadian Bacon where a police officer in Canada (not sure if it was actually in Quebec or not) catches some Americans writing anti-Canadian graffiti. The officer informs them that they need to have French translations and helps them add it, and then moves on.
- matrix2596 5y ago
  You must see the Latin correction in life of Brian then
- kzrdude 5y ago
  Sounds very Pythonesque, indeed
- bmn__ 5y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyO1ILQAGsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyO1ILQAGsU
  - joemi 5y ago
    Thanks. It's been quite a while since I've seen it. Guess I slightly mis-remembered it, but got the gist of it right.
wwalexander 5y ago
In Montreal, there is a flashing neon sign on top of a former flour factory [1]. This sign originally read: FARINE FIVE ROSES FLOUR The first line is French for “flour”, the second line is the brand name, and third line is, well, “flour” in English. When Bill 101 passed, they had to remove “flour” from the sign as it was an English word. However, they were allowed to keep “Five Roses”, as opposed to “Cinq Roses”, since it’a a brand name, so now it simply reads: FARINE FIVE ROSES The owners have apparently tried to take the sign down, since the brand has since been sold to their competitors, but capitulated to public outcry. Apparently, it’s quite expensive to maintain, but I can see why locals don’t want it to go. It adds a lot of character to the skyline. [1] https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/farine-five-roses-sign https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/farine-five-roses-sign
dnautics 5y ago
Is "stopper" not a valid french verb? I was taught it was.

kzrdude 5y ago

I'm a bit interested in why all the European countries standardized on STOP for that sign. Apparently that's mandated by the convention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Sign... which has wide support in Europe and sporadically other places. It's impressive/weird to me that the convention got all the countries to use the english word on the stop sign, for consistency.

jorams 5y ago
While I don't know the answer, I would guess it has something to do with it not just being the English word. It's also the Dutch word (spelled exactly the same) and, based on some random clicking in Google Translate, Croation, Norwegian and Czech. It's a secondary translation in a bunch of other languages. I don't know how much of that changed after the road signs, but it looks like a good international basis.
- kzrdude 5y ago
  it is not norwegian, as we would write STOPP in norwegian. In that sense, it's annoying, it's a word you understand, but the sign is also "misspelled".
  - hnbad 5y ago
    Same in German. I remember teachers lecturing us in school about this. "Stop" certainly has become an acceptable spelling in colloquial German for some people because of this, much to the despair of language purists. Even the Duden (German standard reference dictionary) seems to have adopted it even if with some caveats: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/stop https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/stop
    - apocolyps6 5y ago
      > Even the Duden Good. The purpose of a dictionary is to record how language is used, not to gatekeep or social engineer what is "proper" language and what isn't. Linguistic prescriptivism is the purview of bigots and school teachers.