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PARIS — I’ll admit it straight away: As a bilingual journalist, the growing use of Franglais by French politicians makes my skin crawl.
Not because I think this blend of French and English is a bad thing in and of itself (it is!), or because the purity of the French language should be preserved at all costs (it should!) — but because in a serious context, it is — at best — a distraction from the substance at hand. And at worst, well …
But in France, where more and more people speak decent English, Anglo-Saxon terms are creeping in everywhere, and increasingly in the mouths of politicians who think they’re being cool or smart.
Not that long ago, Emmanuel Macron was dubbed “the Franglais president” after tweeting “La démocratie est le système le plus bottom up de la terre” …
Oh mon dieu.
They call it Frenglish
It is much rarer when the linguistic invasion goes in the other direction, with far fewer English-speaking elected officials, or their electors, knowing more than a couple of words of French. (The few Brits who use it call it Frenglish)
Imagine then my horror last night watching British Prime Minister Boris Johnson berating France over the recent diplomatic clash surrounding the AUKUS submarine deal, cheekily telling UK media from Washington: “I just think it’s time for some of our dearest friends around the world to prenez un grip about this and donnez-moi un break.”
Cringe. Eye roll. Facepalm.
Here’s the clip, in case you haven’t had your morning cup of awkward.
Grincement de dents. Yeux au ciel. Tête entre les mains.
First, let me offer a quick French lesson: Sorry, BoJo, you needed the “infinitif” form here: “It’s time for [us] to prendre un grip about this and me donner un break.”
But that, of course (bien sûr), is not the point in this particular moment. Instead, this would-be bon mot is not just sloppy and silly, it is incredibly patronizing, particularly when discussing a multi-billion deal that sparked a deep diplomatic crisis in the Western alliance.
The colorful British politician is, alas, no stranger to verbal miscalculations and linguistic gaffes. He’s also (Brexit, anyone?) not necessarily one who cares about preserving relationships with longstanding partners. This time, combining the two, even for such a shameless figure as Mr. Johnson, only one word came to my bilingual brain: Vraiment?
