5 ms·

Are we now all supposed to google for whatever the heck "banlieue" or "la BAC" is supposed to mean? :D

by dualogy 12y ago

julie1 12y ago
banlieue = subburbs. Paris == 1M intra muros (~15km radius from notre dame) subburbs == 12M (~40km) BAC = Brigade Anti Criminalité (Anti Crime Unit) But everybody refers to them as the BAC or in slang the «cowboys»
- jnbiche 12y ago
  >banlieue = subburbs. Yeah, but you have to explain that subburbs are not the same in France as in the U.S. Here, subburbs are generally where educated, middle-class people go to live (although that is changing in some places). In France, the "banlieu" subburbs are what we would call the "inner-city". Speaking colloquially, the ghetto. Big difference, and just translating "banlieu" as "subburb" does not explain this.
ArikBe 12y ago
The banlieues are the suburbs (of Paris). The word has become terminology which is used in international media. It's valid English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banlieue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banlieue The BAC are the "Brigade anti-criminalité", that term is more obscure. Basically a special unit of the police. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_anti-criminalit%C3%A9 http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_anti-criminalit%C3%A9
- julie1 12y ago
  In fact, we «banlieusards» from Paris have a tendency to consider ourselves as «THE» banlieue. The most emblematic one. But most big cities have one of their own. Marseilles, Lyon and Lille have theirs.
kps 12y ago
Although ‘banlieue’ = ‘suburb’ literally, the analogous word in American media is ‘urban’. For the SV crowd, Paris = San Francisco, banlieue = Oakland.
- jnbiche 12y ago
  >the analogous word in American media is ‘urban’ I would say the analogous word is "inner-city". "Urban" carries a limited range of socio-cultural connotations, unlike "banlieu" and "inner-city".
gaius 12y ago
Why not? Educate yourself.
- julie1 12y ago
  Well, knowledge does not jump from written media to brain, else, everyone would be doing their own molotov cocktail (I still prefer the Joliot-Curie), TNT (pretty easy, we learnt it at school while doing mono nitration of toluene), nuclear bomb ... that is what makes the world quite safe in fact. I was forced to borrow from the adult library when I was 11 because I had already read everything and I was too demanding. But I guess it was not enough :) But I don't think hidden social rules are taught in books. Behaving «socially correctly» is not taught either. Which so far has been quite my main problem.
StavrosK 12y ago
No, of course not. Anyone writing a comment should only use words everyone that is ever going to see the comment already knows.
anu_gupta 12y ago
Yes. Being able to find things out for oneself is useful.

Are we now all supposed to google for whatever the heck "banlieue" or "la BAC" is supposed to mean? :D

by dualogy 12y ago

Are we now all supposed to google for whatever the heck "banlieue" or "la BAC" is supposed to mean? :D

banlieue = subburbs. Paris == 1M intra muros (~15km radius from notre dame) subburbs == 12M (~40km) BAC = Brigade Anti Criminalité (Anti Crime Unit) But everybody refers to them as the BAC or in slang the «cowboys»

jnbiche 12y ago
>banlieue = subburbs. Yeah, but you have to explain that subburbs are not the same in France as in the U.S. Here, subburbs are generally where educated, middle-class people go to live (although that is changing in some places). In France, the "banlieu" subburbs are what we would call the "inner-city". Speaking colloquially, the ghetto. Big difference, and just translating "banlieu" as "subburb" does not explain this.

ArikBe 12y ago

The banlieues are the suburbs (of Paris). The word has become terminology which is used in international media. It's valid English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banlieue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banlieue The BAC are the "Brigade anti-criminalité", that term is more obscure. Basically a special unit of the police. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_anti-criminalit%C3%A9 http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_anti-criminalit%C3%A9

julie1 12y ago
In fact, we «banlieusards» from Paris have a tendency to consider ourselves as «THE» banlieue. The most emblematic one. But most big cities have one of their own. Marseilles, Lyon and Lille have theirs.

kps 12y ago

Although ‘banlieue’ = ‘suburb’ literally, the analogous word in American media is ‘urban’. For the SV crowd, Paris = San Francisco, banlieue = Oakland.

jnbiche 12y ago
>the analogous word in American media is ‘urban’ I would say the analogous word is "inner-city". "Urban" carries a limited range of socio-cultural connotations, unlike "banlieu" and "inner-city".

gaius 12y ago

Why not? Educate yourself.

julie1 12y ago
Well, knowledge does not jump from written media to brain, else, everyone would be doing their own molotov cocktail (I still prefer the Joliot-Curie), TNT (pretty easy, we learnt it at school while doing mono nitration of toluene), nuclear bomb ... that is what makes the world quite safe in fact. I was forced to borrow from the adult library when I was 11 because I had already read everything and I was too demanding. But I guess it was not enough :) But I don't think hidden social rules are taught in books. Behaving «socially correctly» is not taught either. Which so far has been quite my main problem.

StavrosK 12y ago

No, of course not. Anyone writing a comment should only use words everyone that is ever going to see the comment already knows.

anu_gupta 12y ago

Yes. Being able to find things out for oneself is useful.