French word of the day: Le Shopping
Published: (9/5/2024)
Happy May, y’all! It is a short week in France, with the kids off school for a grand 5-day weekend. To recap all the numerous May public holidays that kids are off school, we have:
- May 1 Wednesday – Labor day/May day
- May 8 Wednesday – WWII Victory day in Europe
- May 9 Thursday – Ascension religious holiday
- May 10 Friday – School closed, just because
- May 20 Monday – Pentecost religious holiday
With the kids off school so much, the adults have multiple options: drop the kids off at the grandparents, take the day off yourself, or let the kids run wild with their toys while attempting to work from home. (I am currently attempting Option 3.)
And in between all these public holidays, there has been a new odd event on the calendar in France that suddenly seems to be on billboards and commercials everywhere: “French days“.
If you haven’t heard of it, don’t worry, apparently I wasn’t paying attention either. And yes, “French days” is the actual name in French, it is not “Jours Français” translated into English.
Dreamed up in 2017 by the marketing teams of some large French retailers, it is supposed to be a shopping sales period here in France, inspired by Black Friday in the U.S.
But you might say, Black Friday is in November and we are currently in May?
There is a simple answer to that and that is those same retailers are trying to make “Black Friday” happen here too (even though there is no Thanksgiving in France), along with “French days”. Double the shopping fun in May and November!
But what I found geekily interesting is that no one seems to be complaining about the anglicisation of the French language. Forget about importing American shopping periods, no one is going to complain about this very English name for a shopping period in France?
Even the term for going shopping in France is “faire du shopping“, rather than the Quebecois version “j’irais magasiner“. (For connoisseurs of the French language, “faire des courses” is usually shopping that needs to be done like grocery shopping, rather than the fun shopping of going to look for a new handbag or jacket.)
I’m pointing this out because unlike the English language where every Brit, American, Canadian, Indian, South African, etc. is free to interpret and make up their own words, there are actual government entities in France that are meant to “protect the French language”.
The Académie Française was created in 1635 and is responsible for defining the French language and teaching grammar, punctuation, as well as establishing an official dictionary.
In addition, there is the Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France (DGLFLF), and the Conseil international de la langue française (CILF) to defend the French language at home in France and abroad. Similarly, in Quebec, there is the “l’Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF)”
So with all these agencies, no one is going to insist on a French name for “French days”? I suppose we’re all just supposed to shut up and “do our part for the economy”.
Anyway, I’ve had a quick look and I suppose the most interesting word to translate is “discount”. Which is pronounced “discount” with a French accent and beret, and maybe a baguette under your arm..?
In other news:
- The Olympic flame arrived from Greece into Marseille’s Vieux Port yesterday with pomp and ceremony on the grand ol’ sailboat Belem. Marseille is the oldest city in France, originally settled by the Greeks in 600 BC, and the city’s flag still resembles the Greek flag.
- The garbage pickup workers in Marseille are going on strike for better pay, just in time for the Olympic ceremonies.
- Railworkers at SNCF are threatening to go on strike May 21 to ask for better pay over the Olympic summer period.
- Garbage pickup workers in Paris are going on strike for better pay and bonuses over the summer period.
- The CGT union has deposed a notice for workers in the 3 branches of public government (fonctionnaires) to strike over the summer period.
- Air traffic controllers are also threatening to strike over the summer period.
- The Senate is considering a law to restrain the “right to strike” during “important periods”.
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