DINNER PARTY INTEL: No need to fret about Franglais
A linguistics professor claims English doesn’t exist and is simply poorly pronounced French
18 April 2024 - 06:00
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The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Picture: REUTERS
1. Franglais: de but of bad jokes
The French have long worried about creeping Franglais, like le goalkeeper rather than the pure gardienne de but. And, horrors, le shopping. But linguistics professor Bernard Cerquiglini, a former director of the national institute for the French language, says English is just poorly pronounced French and that le shopping is from éschoppe, the Old French for a small shop.
2. Milei with a hint of Musk
It’s the latest bromance: Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The pair met for the first time last Friday after a year-long social media friendship. Milei visited a Tesla factory in Austin, Texas, in which they discussed the need to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles, according to the president’s office.
3. Crypto treasure island
The Seychelles, Africa’s smallest and least populous country, is a global crypto trading hub, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Exchanges including Bybit and OKX have taken advantage of the Indian Ocean archipelago state’s low taxes and light-touch regulation. As a result, the Seychelles’ incoming on-chain bitcoin flows between 2019 and 2022 were equivalent to nearly 2.5% of GDP, the IMF found.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
DINNER PARTY INTEL: No need to fret about Franglais
A linguistics professor claims English doesn’t exist and is simply poorly pronounced French
1. Franglais: de but of bad jokes
The French have long worried about creeping Franglais, like le goalkeeper rather than the pure gardienne de but. And, horrors, le shopping. But linguistics professor Bernard Cerquiglini, a former director of the national institute for the French language, says English is just poorly pronounced French and that le shopping is from éschoppe, the Old French for a small shop.
2. Milei with a hint of Musk
It’s the latest bromance: Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The pair met for the first time last Friday after a year-long social media friendship. Milei visited a Tesla factory in Austin, Texas, in which they discussed the need to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles, according to the president’s office.
3. Crypto treasure island
The Seychelles, Africa’s smallest and least populous country, is a global crypto trading hub, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Exchanges including Bybit and OKX have taken advantage of the Indian Ocean archipelago state’s low taxes and light-touch regulation. As a result, the Seychelles’ incoming on-chain bitcoin flows between 2019 and 2022 were equivalent to nearly 2.5% of GDP, the IMF found.
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