The French government can no longer use English words like “esports”, “streaming”, or “cloud gaming”.
The institution that oversees the French language, the Académie Française, has banned the use of several English gaming terms in an effort to maintain the purity of the language.
The changes were made after consulting France’s Ministry of Culture and were issued in an official journal. They apply to all government workers, but not to French media outlets.
This means that government officials speaking in a public capacity or writing documents will have to use their French equivalents.
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French government workers can no longer use English gaming terms
Esports is now the hilariously long “jeu video de competition,” while pro gamer becomes “joueur professionnel.” Meanwhile, streamers go by “joueur-animateur en direct.”
The Ministry of Culture had become concerned that the English terms would act as a barrier to understanding for non-gamers, according to AFP. The goal was to allow the French people to communicate more easily and experts had reportedly trawled video game websites and magazines for existing French terms.
The Académie Française language watchdog has previously warned against the “degradation” of the French language, especially in the light of English imports like “big data” and “drive-in.”
Some of its previous efforts to prevent the anglicization of the French language have also found success. For instance, the French use “courriel” instead of “email.”
The institution has a long history dating back to 1635. The 40 members are known as “the immortals,” which should probably tell you how seriously they take themselves.
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