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as i and others have explained previously, "liseuse" is a real french word. it has several meanings, all of which center on reading : it can mean a lamp used for reading, a jacket or shawl worn by a woman for reading in bed (as grimaud said), a knife used for cutting the pages of books and marking your place (this meaning is obviously rather out-dated), and... a device for reading ebooks.
as i've also explained previously, in french, ebooks are a recent phenomenon, and less well-known than in english. the french vocabulary is still evolving. most french people have no idea what an ebook or an ebook reader is, however "liseuse" is used to mean a reading device on various french blogs talking about them. i have given links before. that is in fact where i first learned the word.
originally, "liseuse" was mentioned in a discussion here about how to distinguish between the *device* used by people for reading ebooks, and the ebooks (files) themselves, the file-format "eReader", or the people reading ebooks on devices. some people liked the word well enough to use it in english as well as in french.
in english, ebooks are relatively more well-known, however i think the vocabulary is *still* being defined, as we can see even here, where some people say "e-reader" or "ereader", some say "ebook reader", and some say "liseuse".
if you don't like liseuse, use a different word. i still really don't understand why a few people are making such a fuss over a word which is quite legitimate. call it whatever you like. it seems quite obvious even from this discussion that the meaning of any of these words can be deduced from the context.
this backlash against the use of a perfectly acceptable word seems needlessly hostile to me and ironically, has probably served only to make the word *more* well-known, whereas without it, probably a handful of people would have continued to use the word and the rest would have peacefully continued to say "ebook reader" or "ereader" or whathaveyou.
if you want to discuss the evolution of living languages, which is a fascinating phenomenon and one we are witnessing from the first row and in fact participating in here, then please do, however do so respectfully and without antagonising other people's choices, languages, and cultures.
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