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I've heard that the French are strict about language, but what does "reserved" mean here? What do the French call coke¹? ¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(

I've heard that the French are strict about language, but what does "reserved" mean here? What do the French call coke¹? ¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(fuel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(fuel) ?

wholinator2 2y ago
I'd suspect the vast majority of France never has to worry about that type of coke, or maybe even knows it exists.
Am4TIfIsER0ppos 2y ago
One upon a time wikipedia used to have links to the other language wikis on the same entry. Now I have to edit the URL to jump to the disambiguation page https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke which tells me it is also "coke" https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(charbon) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(charbon)
- klausa 2y ago
  It still does. There's a button saying "58 languages" on the trailing edge of where the title of the page is. It opens a drop-down with language selection. (Presumably the UI is different on mobile, speaking about web.)
selectodude 2y ago
Coca cola, coca light, coca zero.
bombela 2y ago
"Charbon". The French commoner will refer to the rock coke as "charbon de terre", shortened to charbon. Similar to "pomme" is apple, and "pomme de terre" is apple from the earth (potato). Charbon is also the word for charcoal. So my grandma used charbon (coke) when she was a kid. And my mom uses charbon (charcoal) for her barbecue. In journals and scientific papers the words coke will be used. In everyday speech, coke means cocaine. Coca is short form for coca cola. And cola is the generic for a coca cola flavored soda.
- thwarted 2y ago
  In everyday speech, coke means cocaine. Coca is short form for coca cola. And cola is the generic for a coca cola flavored soda. I admittedly used a very rare/specialist example homonym. What I'm really wondering is how context plays into it. If you're ordering drinks in France and an English speaker says they'll have a Coke, does anyone really think they are referring to cocaine? Coke is vernacular slang for cocaine in American English too, but no one confuses this with usage of the brand name to refer to soft drinks (specifically Coca-Cola, or to soft drinks in general, which is a regional thing).
  - bombela 2y ago
    "Un coke s'il vous plaît" is not a proper French sentence. It does not sound right. It will be obvious it's a language difference and people will easily guess coca cola. In fact French people will most likely quip back "Un coca vous voulez dire ?". Fun aside, coca cola/cola is male. Cocaïne is female. A rail (of coke) is male.
chimeracoder 2y ago
> I've heard that the French are strict about language, but what does "reserved" mean here? What do the French call coke¹? That's also called "coke", which is why there's a Tintin book called "Coke en Stock". [0] That said, if you say "coke" in English, almost nobody will think of fuel, and the same is true for French speakers today. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Aventures-Tintin-Stock-French-Sharks/dp/0785945636 https://www.amazon.com/Aventures-Tintin-Stock-French-Sharks/...
dadoum 2y ago
If you say the word coke (\kok\) in front of a Frenchman, they will immediately think of cocaine. Most people aren't aware of the other meaning of coke. They will probably say it's coal (charbon), the technical term being coke (but pronounced \kɔk\) or apparently charbon de terre according to the other comments.

wholinator2 2y ago

I'd suspect the vast majority of France never has to worry about that type of coke, or maybe even knows it exists.

Am4TIfIsER0ppos 2y ago

One upon a time wikipedia used to have links to the other language wikis on the same entry. Now I have to edit the URL to jump to the disambiguation page https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke which tells me it is also "coke" https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(charbon) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(charbon)

klausa 2y ago
It still does. There's a button saying "58 languages" on the trailing edge of where the title of the page is. It opens a drop-down with language selection. (Presumably the UI is different on mobile, speaking about web.)

selectodude 2y ago

Coca cola, coca light, coca zero.

bombela 2y ago

"Charbon". The French commoner will refer to the rock coke as "charbon de terre", shortened to charbon. Similar to "pomme" is apple, and "pomme de terre" is apple from the earth (potato). Charbon is also the word for charcoal. So my grandma used charbon (coke) when she was a kid. And my mom uses charbon (charcoal) for her barbecue. In journals and scientific papers the words coke will be used. In everyday speech, coke means cocaine. Coca is short form for coca cola. And cola is the generic for a coca cola flavored soda.

thwarted 2y ago
In everyday speech, coke means cocaine. Coca is short form for coca cola. And cola is the generic for a coca cola flavored soda. I admittedly used a very rare/specialist example homonym. What I'm really wondering is how context plays into it. If you're ordering drinks in France and an English speaker says they'll have a Coke, does anyone really think they are referring to cocaine? Coke is vernacular slang for cocaine in American English too, but no one confuses this with usage of the brand name to refer to soft drinks (specifically Coca-Cola, or to soft drinks in general, which is a regional thing).
- bombela 2y ago
  "Un coke s'il vous plaît" is not a proper French sentence. It does not sound right. It will be obvious it's a language difference and people will easily guess coca cola. In fact French people will most likely quip back "Un coca vous voulez dire ?". Fun aside, coca cola/cola is male. Cocaïne is female. A rail (of coke) is male.

chimeracoder 2y ago

> I've heard that the French are strict about language, but what does "reserved" mean here? What do the French call coke¹? That's also called "coke", which is why there's a Tintin book called "Coke en Stock". [0] That said, if you say "coke" in English, almost nobody will think of fuel, and the same is true for French speakers today. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Aventures-Tintin-Stock-French-Sharks/dp/0785945636 https://www.amazon.com/Aventures-Tintin-Stock-French-Sharks/...

dadoum 2y ago

If you say the word coke (\kok\) in front of a Frenchman, they will immediately think of cocaine. Most people aren't aware of the other meaning of coke. They will probably say it's coal (charbon), the technical term being coke (but pronounced \kɔk\) or apparently charbon de terre according to the other comments.