What do you think of the name "liseuse?"

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by kennyc

...I have no problem with the word being used in the French speaking forums but object to it in the English-speaking forums and particularly in the Reviews and News sections...

I don't think the Reviews and News sections are exclusively for English speakers are they?

We don't have their equivalents in other languages, so I thought they were areas for everyone to use if they wanted. I wouldn't object to non-English threads there.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by kennyc

No. It is not invalid. It is perfectly valid in the context. That is the way people are reacting to it. You're blowing this comment way out of proportion just as you are with the original issue itself in defending it.

i am not sure how i can be "blowing the original issue out of proportion" by requesting that people show more tolerance than several have been and stating repeatedly that no-one is trying to "force" anyone to use a word they don't want to. on the other hand, it seems to me that the people opposed to the use of liseuse have been blowing quite a few things out of proportion and i am very concerned by some of the turns this discussion has taken.

Again let me state my position. I have no problem with the word being used in the French speaking forums but object to it in the English-speaking forums and particularly in the Reviews and News sections. There are perfectly good English terms in use historically as well as by the device manufacturers. We do not need a made-up word (like Kindle for example).

once again, and hopefully for the last time, 1. "liseuse" is not a made-up word ; 2. no-one is forcing *anyone* to use liseuse instead of a word they prefer, and the virulence of some of these reactions is quite uncalled-for ; 3. like your apt reference to "kindle" demonstrates, the vocabulary around this phenomenon is still evolving, and who knows what will end up being adopted by most people as a generic term for dedicated reading devices. it's quite possible that in the US at least it *will* be kindle, despite the utter lack of any obvious connection between the original meaning of that word and the act of reading or anything having to do with reading. that is the way language works.

If people insist on using it in the English forums, I can't change that, but I certainly can express my objection or reaction to them using the term. It will eventually work itself out.

and as long as you keep the discussion respectful to all involved, i have no problem with it. however i do have a problem with a few people rather thuggishly derailing a thread completely simply because they object to a word used in it, *regardless* of which forum it is in. i also have a problem with people attempting to lend deeply unsavoury connotations to a perfectly inoffensive word by comparing it to a racial slur, and i also have a problem with the general intolerance and disrespect this discussion has degenerated into many times. as has already been said, IT IS JUST A WORD; if you don't like it, don't use it. but there is no reason to attack people who *do* like it and want to use it.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

However, it has been decided that the official word for eBook reader is not that silly word.

I like that there is no official word, as "official words" don't usually sit well with me, as I see them as an attack on freedom of speech. Accepted words are a different story.

Also, I grew up in English Canada, and went through high school just after Quebec's Bill 101 was passed. For those who don't know the reference, that's Quebec's language law, and it received a lot of bad press especially in the West, which is where I grew up. (The general perception of the law was that all of Canada had to be bilingual English and French to appease Quebec, but Quebec didn't have to follow the rules.) Needless to say, that gives me a predisposition against anything that looks like the imposition of a French word, whether that's what's happening or not.

I hope I've grown out of that, and I think that I have: I'm quite sure my distaste for the word liseuse doesn't stem from that source because my immediate reaction wasn't "Why did they have to pick a French word?" It was "Why did they have to pick that word?" It's a perfectly good word, I just don't like the sound of it. (I don't associate it with ebook readers either, but that's got nothing to do with my dislike of the sound - and I could learn to associate it with reading devices.)

I still think we should focus more on talking about books and devices than what we call them.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

I don't think the Reviews and News sections are exclusively for English speakers are they?

We don't have their equivalents in other languages, so I thought they were areas for everyone to use if they wanted. I wouldn't object to non-English threads there.

True, but it is an "English speaking" forum, right?

If not I stand corrected and have no issue with the French neo-term being used in French news posting.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

.... i also have a problem with people attempting to lend deeply unsavoury connotations to a perfectly inoffensive word by comparing it to a racial slur, and i also have a problem with the general intolerance and disrespect this discussion has degenerated into many times. as has already been said, IT IS JUST A WORD; if you don't like it, don't use it. but there is no reason to attack people who *do* like it and want to use it.

I think this section of your post exhibits exactly the issue, from both perspectives. I simply provided an example of how someone could object to the use of a word in exactly the manner you are describing. People are treating it as MUCH MORE than just a word ON BOTH SIDES.

Personally I won't use it, nor will I attack those who do, but I will object to its use when, as I keep repeating there are perfectly adequate existing words.

I don't care for "kindle" or "Reader" either, but that is the manufacturers designated words for their particular ebook readers.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by kennyc

True, but it is an "English speaking" forum, right?

If not I stand corrected and have no issue with the French neo-term being used in French news posting.

What, in the name of all things holy, is a 'neo-term' !!!!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

What, in the name of all things holy, is a 'neo-term' !!!!

That's a brand new sci-fi inventification. Courtesy of reading the new Margaret Atwood who has names for businesses like "AnooYoo" (a health spa).

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by kennyc

That's a brand new sci-fi inventification.

Maybe a new word being forced upon people when there are other perfectly valid alternatives?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kazbates

By whom?

The majority of the people who took the poll.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Maybe a new word being forced upon people when there are other perfectly valid alternatives?

Yes and "You Vill Youse it!"

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Again let me state my position. I have no problem with the word being used in the French speaking forums but object to it in the English-speaking forums and particularly in the Reviews and News sections. There are perfectly good English terms in use historically as well as by the device manufacturers. We do not need a made-up word (like Kindle for example).

What I object to is when a news item has the reporter's preference for what to call an eBook reader instead of what the manufacture is calling the device that they make and sell. We may or may not agree with the manufacturer, but at least the new item would be accurate.

[Slite]

As long as there are eleventy different makers of e-reading devices, there will most likely be eleventy different "official" names for it.

If you want to call it Liseueseuuessess or something else is really irrelevant. I like the Liseuese word myself, but it's not as if I say "It's a liseuse" when someone asks me about the device when I am using it in public. That would most likely make most people who have not seen the light of electronic reading yet go "huh?", drool a bit and then scamper off to their cave again.

I usually just present it as an electronic book reader, which describes what it does more than present a name for it. Any followup questions I usually refer to it as an e-reader or e-läsare (in swedish).

If an oficial name for the device is ever adopted, which I doubt. I would be happy about it, but most likely I'd continue to call it Frack! anyway.

[pilotbob]

Hey Folks,

I am sorry to those that have been civil, but this thread has risen to the level of personal insults and it is no longer productive, so we are closing the thread. We feel the discussion of the topic has been exhausted at this point anyhow.

-Moderators