The next time you hear about a digital agency, digital transformation or even digital conferencing, you can point your finger at this serious error with a blunt argument: the French equivalent is “digital”, it is written in the Official newspaper.
The French Language Enrichment Commission has just issued this new recommendation, a recommendation which applies in particular to all official texts (decrees, orders, correspondence from State services, etc.).
L’French Academy has also advocated for years to use the adjective “digital” rather than “digital”, which is an Anglicism coming from digit, meaning “number”. The word digital is not to be banned completely from the French language, however. The digital exists, but it relates to the fingers, as in “fingerprint”.
Among the other new recommendations, there is “backdoor” in place of backdoor, “Data science” instead of data science or even “semantic web” instead of semantic web. The committee’s choices are sometimes open to debate; “Connected personal object” omits much of the meaning of wearable device. Why not “connected clothing object” or “connected personal accessory”?
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