[kennyc]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

as i and others have explained previously, "liseuse" is a real french word. it has several meanings, .....and... a device for reading ebooks.

..... the french vocabulary is still evolving. .....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.
......
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".
......

this backlash against the use of a perfectly acceptable word seems needlessly hostile to me .....

Thanks for that Z. It gives me a bit better background context. What you say about evolving language is true in any language when we are discussing technology.

Also what you say about differentiating between the ebook and the ebook reader is clearly an issue -- one that is not true of pbooks (another invented or adapted word I might add).

Now I have nothing against any other language or culture, but using a foreign word in an English context when perfectly adequate English words exist is pretentious to me.

I believe in clear communication particularly when speaking of technology, science, emerging technologies, press releases, news. I have no problem if this is the chosen word and is used in the French sub-forums but I don't care for it's use in the English forums when as I said there are perfectly adequate and established words.

One thing that strikes me is that there seem to be strong emotions on both sides of this issue -- well beyond the word itself. It's almost as if it's a major cultural clash, the French (and French sympathizers) forcing the word into the English Language and the English (and English sympathizers) fighting back. I guess this is evolution of language in the internet age.