Here come Les Blocs

By: Nick Danger · Section: Diaries


Richard Stastny VoIP and ENUM


According to C|Net, France's Commission generale de terminologie et de neologie ("the monkeys of surrender with the new words") has decided that the term "blog" is an affront to the long noses of the French people [I told you no more Babelfish -- ed.] and will henceforth be replaced in French class with the more pleasing bloc-notes.

It will be permissable, at least in France, to use the short form "bloc." And so France will soon have blocs and presumably bloceurs and bloceuses.
At presstime it was not possible to determine whether bloc is a 'le' or a 'la,' which is the same problem we have always had with all French words.

The Germans, meanwhile, are expected to go the other way. They always do. Instead of coining an entirely new — and consequently short — word, they are expected to follow their usual practice and deem these entities komputerdailynotesgelisters.

Nick made this up: the official word is Zwischennetztagebuchaufzeichnung

In Brussels, the EU Ministry of Technologie reacted with alarm to this proliferation of 'blog' terms unique to each country, especially after they learned that the Poles intended to call them gzybrgrlz.
The EU has consequently appointed a commission to draft a plan to hold a meeting to prepare an agenda. Officials are hopeful that a single, Europe-wide standard term can be introduced in time for the 2104 Olympics.

They are being, as usual, too optimistic, we won't be ready, they forget we will need Referendums, and what if they say NO?

Patrizia