Don’t say podcast or clickbait in French say…
A new set of 40 French equivalents for well-known Anglicisms has been published after recommendations from the Académie Française for the enrichment and preservation of the French language.
The word 'podcast' should be replaced by the French ‘audio à la demande’ or ‘programme/émission à la demande’, or ‘service audio à la demande’.
'To spoil' (as in to reveal prematurely a key element of a storyline plot) should be replaced by ‘divulgâcher’, a word which has only been added to the dictionary in 2020.
Instead of saying 'fake news', the commission recommends ‘infox’, and ‘vidéotox’ for 'deepfake' which are fake videos which seem real.
Read more: New French words: hipstérisation, antivax and infox
'Timelapse' should be replaced by ‘hyperaccéléré’, and the word 'autotune' should be replaced by ‘ajustement automatique d’intonation’. 'Extended play' (EP) should be replace by 'mini-album'.
'Video mapping' becomes 'fresque vidéo'. A 'showrunner' should be called 'directeur/directrice de série'.
A 'social media manager' must be called ‘un responsable des réseaux sociaux’. The word 'clickbait' should be replaced by ‘piège à clics’.
We note that the French equivalents often have more syllables than the English words.
The academy’s role is to create new terms and expressions to fill gaps in the French vocabulary and to designate in French new concepts which are known under foreign names.
Read more: Franglais? More a case of Frenglish
Members meet once a month to examine new terms.
Once the Académie Française has validated the new terms, they must be used in public administrations and as a reference for writers and translators for example.
