else for ages, out of a fear that it would be misinterpreted. But today seems like the day. First off, I strongly recommend that anyone who speaks French, well or poorly, should go and visit Les coups de langue de la grande rousse. At the same time, I must admit that I find the concept implicit in Dolores’ site simultaneously funny and frustrating. The site is based on the idea that there is one correct word for everything, and a proper way to use that word in practice.

The very idea that there could be one correct English is incomprehensible to many, if not most, who are proficient in the language. And the idea of forming – and listening to – a body who would make such decisions? It could never happen.

The frustrating part is that attached to the idea that there is a single correct French is the idea that language determines culture, which is, I believe, precisely backwards.