French vs. English: Linguistic Battle Against Loanwords Rages On

France has always been opposed to borrowing words from English, and today, when tech terms have become international, the guardians of the French language have been attempting to replace them with French equivalents. Already excluding words like “startup,” “venture capital” and “crowdfunding,” France has become irritated by the term “smartphone.”

READ MORE: French Kiss of Death to Free Speech

After an unsuccessful attempt to introduce “ordiphone” and “terminal de poche,” the French Language Enrichment Commission, along with France’s Académie française, has been urging francophone people to use the word “mobile multifonction” instead, or “mobile” as a shortened version.

Certainly, the French couldn’t help but mock the Commission’s decision across social media.

“Can I borrow your “mobile multifonction” to make a call?”

“I retweeted from my “mobile multifonction”

Others imagined what it would be like if “Wi-Fi” and “Bluetooth” received French equivalent:

Some realize that while there is the need to preserve the language, the suggested terms are bizarre:

Last year, the Commission ruled for the use of “joueur” instead of “gamer,” ”internet clandestin” instead of “dark web” and invented the word “infox” to replace “fake news.”