The French Get Lost in the Clouds Over a New Term in the Internet Age - WSJ.com

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By MAX COLCHESTER

PARIS -- The word on the table that morning was "cloud computing."

To translate the English term for computing resources that can be accessed on demand on the Internet, a group of French experts had spent 18 months coming up with "informatique en nuage," which literally means "computing in cloud."

France's General Commission of Terminology and Neology -- a 17-member group of professors, linguists, scientists and a former ambassador -- was gathered in a building overlooking the Louvre to approve the term.

"What? This means nothing to me. I put a 'cloud' of milk in my tea!" exclaimed Jean Saint-Geours, a French writer and member of the Terminology Commission.

"Send it back and start again," ordered Etienne Guyon, a physics professor on the commission.

Keeping the French language relevant isn't easy in the Internet age. For years, French bureaucrats have worked hard to keep French up to date by diligently coming up with equivalents for English terms. Though most French people say "le week-end" and "un surfer," the correct translations of the terms are "fin de semaine" ("end of the week") and "aquaplanchiste" ("water boarder"). A "start-up" company is referred to as "jeune pousse," or "young shoot" (the term pousse is used for vegetable sprouts), while the World Wide Web is translated as "toile d'araignée mondiale" (literally, global spider web).

But technological advancements mean new Anglicisms are spreading over the Internet at warp speed, leaving the French scratching their heads.

Before a word such as "cloud computing" or "podcasting" ("diffusion pour baladeur") receives a certified French equivalent, it needs to be approved by three organizations and get a government minister's seal of approval, according to rules laid out by the state's General Delegation for the French Language and the Languages of France. The process can be a linguistic odyssey taking years.

"Rigor cannot be compromised," said Xavier North, the 57-year-old civil servant who heads the General Delegation.

On the Beach

On its Web site, the General Delegation for the French Language reminds French citizens that the terms beach volleyball, beach tennis and beach hockey aren't always correct. As these sports are becoming more popular, "they are often taking place … in arenas," the General Delegation states.

As these sports don't necessarily take place on beaches, the word "beach" should be replaced with "on sand" ("sur sable").

Hence the terms hockey sur sable, tennis sur sable and volley sur sable are recommended by the General Commission of Terminology and Neology.

Mr. North? Vraiment? The guardian of French takes umbrage at the suggestion his name might be English. "My name is absolutely not Anglo-Saxon," he says. "It comes from Alsace," in the east of France. Also, he pronounces it Nort.

Article Two of France's Constitution states that, "The language of the Republic shall be French." The French government, therefore, has a duty to offer citizens French alternatives to English words, he says. "Our citizens have a right to communicate without speaking English."

French linguistic legislation started in 1593. That year, King François I ousted Latin as his country's administrative language and replaced it with French. Until the 20th century, things went well: Local dialects were supplanted, and French became the language of diplomacy and love. But after World War II and the rise of the U.S. as a superpower, French was pushed onto the back burner.

In 1994, the French government passed laws to ensure that all advertisements, work-contracts and government documentation were in French. The General Delegation was charged with overseeing the creation of new French terms.

Every year, about 300 new terms are officially introduced into the French language. Some -- like cloud computing -- get accidental priority.

About 18 months ago, Bénédicte Madinier, head of language development at Mr. North's General Delegation, was on holiday when she read a magazine piece about cloud computing. "I realized it was pretty important," she says. The 59-year-old quickly sent a request that the expression be sped through France's translation and definition system.

Each of France's government ministries has at least one terminology committee attached to it. The job of the people on the committee is to spot new English words and create and define French alternatives before the English version catches on. Ms. Madinier called on the committee in charge of computing terminology -- which is part of the French Finance Ministry -- to handle the expression "cloud computing."

The 20-person team of volunteers got off to a slow start because they weren't sure cloud computing was an important enough concept, recalls Ms. Madinier. Last summer, however, several committee members attended a conference on new Internet trends and realized that they had better get cracking.

The problem was the word "cloud." In French, to be "dans les nuages" -- or in the clouds -- is a common expression meaning to be distracted. So, committee members were wary of using the word "nuage." One would not want to have his head in the clouds. They came up with alternatives, including Capacité Informatique en Ligne (or online computing capability), which could be shortened to CIEL, which, of course, means "sky" in French.

"Going from 'cloud' to 'sky' seems to be a bit far-fetched," one committee member wrote his colleagues last August in an email.

Shortly after, another member complained that using a term that includes cloud "involuntarily causes laughter and at best a smile," according to another email. He suggested blending the French words for computing and cyberspace to create "cyberinformatique." That set off a series of other suggestions, including cybergerance (cybermanagement), cybercalcul and cyberservice.

Translating to Keep French Alive

As new English words pop up, the French government creates alternatives in its native tongue. It makes for some interesting translations; here are a few:

Automobile:

Air bag -- sac gonflable (inflatable bag)

Business:

Brainstorming -- remue-méninges (Brain-stirring)
Viral marketing -- bouche à oreille électronique (electronic word of mouth)

Fashion:

Supermodel -- mannequin vedette (model star)

Food:

Snacking -- grignotage (nibbling)

Sports (general):

Big air (when snowboarding) -- saut acrobatique sur tremplin de neige (acrobatic jump on a springboard of snow)
Draft -- recrutement des espoirs (recruitment of hopes)
Frisbee -- disque-volant (flying disc)
Skateboard -- planche acrobatique terrestre (terrestrial acrobatic board)
Stepper (Stepmaster) -- simulateur-ergomètre d'escalier (stair simulator)

Technology:

Emoticon -- frimousse (show-off)
Personal digital assistant (PDA) -- assistant électronique de poche (electric pocket assistant)
Trojan horse (computer virus) -- cheval de Troie (horse of Troy)

Tennis:

Break -- brèche (breach)
Let -- Filet! (net!)
Tiebreaker -- jeu décisif (decisive game)

Source: The General Delegation for the French Language and the Languages of France

No compromise was reached, so by the end of September, the committee went back to the literal translation, "informatique en nuage."

"It resembles the English term and does not distort the French language," committee member Bernard Bourguignon wrote his colleagues in an email. Another member ventured that the phrase was catchy enough to inspire good newspaper headlines announcing the new term:

"Desperate times in the computing cloud, the quiet before the storm" or "Lightning love in the computing cloud: ZZZ and YYY merge."

The term "informatique en nuage" was passed on for approval before the General Commission of Terminology and Neology.

But at the meeting earlier this month, the 17 members of the commission were quickly confused. "How are we supposed to understand it?" asked Alexandre Grandazzi, a Latin professor.

"I think we can survive without the term 'cloud computing,'" said physics expert Mr. Guyon, slamming his hand on the table.

"Cloud computing" will now go back to the drawing board.

Had it been approved, the term would still have required ratification by the Academie Française, which was founded in 1635 and is the official authority on grammar and vocabulary of the French language. It would have also required final approval by the French finance minister.

For Mr. North, head of the French Delegation for the French Language, the long process is important. He points to various translation successes, including the French for email -- courriel -- which was approved in 2003 and has since become popular. Over the years, French language committees have succeeded in turning the word CD-ROM into "cédérom" and fuel into "fioul."

"We won't cut people's heads off if they don't use it," says Mr. North. But, he adds: "Language is what brought this country together."

Recently, Mr. North came upon another hot Internet term: the computer applications known as "Web widgets."

"I thought, 'Why not say that in French?'"

Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com