A French Political Lexicon - For non Francophones

There are certain terms in French political discourse that may sound strange, loaded or confusing to a Non-Francophone ear. Some are euphemisms, other franglais, and still others have different or even opposite meaning than their American English definition. Let’s give a few of them a closer look :

Républicain - A reference to the concept of the three central French values, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood), it simply means an adherence to these notions of democracy. Nothing at all to do with anything conservative or right-of-center.

Libéral – Synonymous with « leftist » in American English, in France it is rather more of a right-of-center economic term for openness to continuing privatization of industry–as is the case for British English. But the word may still be a head-scratcher for those of us who don’t read The Economist.

Leader/leadership - An anglicism. Yes, these two words have their own French counterparts (dirigeant/direction) but instead, this English word has become part of the political and business culture to the point that even presidents and CEOs employ it. What this says about the creeping Americanization of the political and economic discourse is open to question.

Meeting - Another anglicism. During the presidential campaign, the candidates had « des meetings. » But unlike the English word, which would indicate a consultation or a discussion of a small group, the French use the word to mean a political rally where the candidate gives a speech.

Les People - An even more unfortunate anglicism, this expression is used in French, only in singular, to mean « celebrities » and is sometimes converted into a French spelling to indicate its pronunciation : pipole (peep-ULL). The origin is possibly from the American weekly People Magazine, with its always-kind treatment of stars mixed in with uncontroversial paparazzi photos. Ironically, English word comes from the original French peuple, and it has now been elevated to a more intellectual level, as commentators and voters alike complain about the « peoplisation » of political coverage. And no, not even rue89 can avoid using it.

Discrimination Positive - The French equivalent of affirmation action, which is not yet law (though favored by Sarkozy) with an eye toward increasing career opportunities amongst citizens of North African muslim descent, where underemployment is high. Following the theory that whoever defines an issue wins it, depending on your point of view, the word itself is either an oxymoron or a good idea with a brutally honest title.

L’Identité Nationale – Another expression that needs no translation, the controversial new Sarkozy ministry (whose full title is the ministry « de l’immigration, de l’intégration, de l’identité nationale et du codéveloppement »), has been attacked as calling to mind the sinister Vichy years. It is already being criticized by immigration researchers and social scientists as divisive and dangerous, while supporters see it as an honest way to address the issue of better assimilation of foreign residents.

Précarité - literally, « precariousness, » this word is a catch-all for substandard conditions or exploitation either in the workplace or simply in terms of housing and human rights. It is often used by those protesting changes in governmental policies that they feel would have uncertain (and negative) results. As a consequence of the word’s ubiquity, is stark impact has been arguably diminished.

La France qui se lève tôt- Sarkozy’s favorite phrase throughout the campaign, which means « The France that rises early [in the morning] ». Employed in the context of supporting the can-do, disciplined early-rising workers of the nation (rather, by implication, than the irresponsible, vaguely-employed late sleepers). Purely in terms of political strategy, it’s brilliant, because it rallies people together around the idea of responsibility and hard work, regardless of their political opinions or the size of their bank account–applying equally to factory workers and media owners alike.

Got an interesting word or expression to add to the lexicon ? Send it along.