Officials in France have banned government workers from using anglicised gamer words in its latest effort at preserving the French language, something that the country holds in very high regard and continues to maintain throughout its rich history from being debased by foreign lingo. Some of the expressions that could be “a barrier to understanding” for non-gamers and should no longer be used in government include “streamer,” which officials insist should be written and spoken as “joueur-animateur en direct,” as well as “cloud gaming,” and “eSports,” which now count the similarly complicated “jeu video en nuage” and “jeu video de competition” as their official translations, respectively. France’s culture ministry explained that its decision was to allow the population to communicate more easily.
While some expressions find obvious translations – “pro-gamer” becomes “joueur professionnel” – others seem a more strained, as “streamer” is transformed into “joueur-animateur en direct”.
The culture ministry, which is involved in the process, told AFP the video game sector was rife with anglicisms that could act as “a barrier to understanding” for non-gamers.
France regularly issues dire warnings of the debasement of its language from across the Channel, or more recently the Atlantic.
Source: The Guardian