7 ms·
I think, for this particular exemple, this is due to the recent rise in French bashing in a lot of British and American medias. That included some nuggets such
by Gmo 13y ago
I think, for this particular exemple, this is due to the recent rise in French bashing in a lot of British and American medias.
That included some nuggets such as “The best thinkers in France have left the country. What is now left is mediocrity.”
So I guess, we, French, have decided to fight back all of this and prove them wrong.
Granted, this article is about expatriates, so one could think it is proving the quote right, but I still think this goes in the general direction of fighting back the partiality of all those articles.
- liam_boogar 13y agoGreat response, Gmo! Indeed, while it doesn't entirely combat the 'bashing' - some of the bashing is due, so we can't expect to entirely reject all criticism - it does put a stick in the bicycle wheel of the "France doesn't have a word for entrepreneur" banter.
- vvvVVVvvv 13y agoOrigin of Entrepreneur : French, from Old French, from entreprendre; to undertake. I guess the irony is lost on them.
- aragot 13y agoJust a question: Doesn't "entrepreneur" totally sound French? I'm French so it's obvious to me, but I'm surprised you fetched a dictionnary to back you up. Do English speakers need to be scholar to guess it's a French word?
- vvvVVVvvv 13y agoFrench as well, so I'm only backing my point with the dictionary definition ;) Given how weirdly they tend to pronounce french word and sometimes transform them -see rouge (but it's only fair since we do the same sometimes) I guess it doesn't hurt to reiterate it.
- philbarr 13y agoThe "the French don't have a word for entrepreneur" is supposedly a quote from George Bush [1], and he's ridiculed for it because we all know "entrepreneur" is French. [1] http://www.snopes.com/quotes/bush.asp http://www.snopes.com/quotes/bush.asp
- vvvVVVvvv 13y agoThat would explain a lot indeed. And don't take any offence with what's been said above, it's funny to see a word / idiom / expression being taken over by the english language, as much as the opposite; ie : The Hangover being translated Very Bad Trip.
- lmm 13y agoDoes the phrase you're translating as "Very Bad Trip" have the same druggie double meaning in French?
- vvvVVVvvv 13y agoKinda but it's mostly bad drug experience, whereas The Hangover encompass any substance (especially alcohol). It's an unimaginative 'translation', making it sound more fancy than the literal french equivalent ("La cuite").
- yardie 13y agoI didn't even know this quote came from anywhere in particular. I honestly believed it was poking fun at the French bureaucracies inability to grow small businesses due to taxes and social charges. Even a few years ago if you wanted to start a new business in a market that didn't exist yet you would be told it can't be done. For example, "Le Camion qui Fume" had to spend years to get the business license because the concept of the food truck didn't exist in France. Surprisingly, mobile epiceries, bakers, and butchers have existed for years so I don't know why mobile restaurants took so long.
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