ASB puza

[Michael McCafferty]

Raton laveur is the French French word for raccoon. The North American term
for this animal has always been chat sauvage. What is going on here is what
is going on presently in Quebec--an attempt by masters of the ivory towers
to destroy the local language so as to make it more "French". What you do is
put the continental French words in the school books and force the teachers
to use them. It works, unfortunately. Little children on the streets in
Montreal are now using the monstrosity 'cerf de Virginie' for the Virginia
deer, whereas the North American French word has always been 'chevreuil'.
This is just one of many examples of the nasty hits that Quebec French is
now taking.

Imagine. It's as if:

Ok, now....everybody, let's all say  "lorry," "lift," "petrol"....

Michael McCafferty



pd Costa" <pankihtamwa at earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
>To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
>Subject: Re: ASB puza
>Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 10:01:06 -0700
>
>
>Depends on what kind of French you're talking about. In ALL the old French
>documents I've looked at, the French name for the raccoon is 'chat
>sauvage'.
>Clearly it was the standard name for the animal. I think this term is now
>considered a 'Canadianism'.
>
>Dave
>
> > As far as raccoons are concerned, the French term in my Peterson Field
>Guide
> > for British and European mammals gives raton laveur.  So, in French a
>raccoon
> > is a rat, not a cat.

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