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Hockey Canada: once again, French is being butchered in Ottawa

 Charles-Alexis Brisebois
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Hockey Canada: once again, French is being butchered in Ottawa
Credit: The status of French in Canada is always going to be a topic of discussion. Recently, my colleague Maxime Truman realized that the Ottawa Senators are not the team to go to for a French test. Let’s put it that way. A French advertisement from the team wasn’t exactly reviewed by Dany Laferrière. “Starting lineup […]
The status of French in Canada is always going to be a topic of discussion.

Recently, my colleague Maxime Truman realized that the Ottawa Senators are not the team to go to for a French test. Let’s put it that way.

A French advertisement from the team wasn’t exactly reviewed by Dany Laferrière.

But here’s Truman’s sharp eye found another element that will make us complain a little, even though it’s December 24.

And it concerns the World Junior Championship, which is taking place in… Ottawa this year.

Essentially, in a video related to the tournament, it’s noticeable that the French signage is lacking. It says “partantes les formations” instead of “les formations partantes” on the scoreboard.

Come on, as the English say.

Here’s what likely happened. In English, we say “starting lineup,” and it’s very logical to think a word-for-word translation was made instead of translating the expression as a whole.

Here’s how it likely went down.

Hey, we need to translate “starting lineup” into French. Let’s ask a French speaker what “starting” and “lineup” are in French.

This may seem trivial, but in a bilingual country (in Canada, we speak English… and simultaneous translation) and in a place like the capital region, seeing such a phrase is ridiculous. And it’s not an isolated incident.

But hey: at least Samuel Montembeault was chosen to join the Canadian team in February. It’s a joke, obviously.


In brief

– It’s a rink day for Darren Dreger.

– Oh no?

– Should we trade Mike Matheson?

– Well done.

– Happy birthday to him.

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