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language police
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — French relations, informal, derogatory
a nickname for the officials in Quebec responsible for enforcing provincial language laws.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — Language police is a term used by Anglophones in Quebec and in the Rest of Canada to refer to the officials of the Office québécois de la langue française, who enforce the Quebec language laws, e.g. Bill 101 or Bill 178, which requires commercial signs to make French words more prominent than English ones (see Image 1, see the Canadian Encyclopedia reference). These officials are civil servants and not part of the police force, but have been nicknamed language police by English speakers and the English press (see, e.g. the 2010 quotation), who perceive the language laws, such as the sign laws, to infringe on English minority rights (see, e.g. the 1977 quotation).
The form language police did not originate in Canada, however, as the term has been used previously elsewhere to refer to groups or persons seeking to impose language standards (see OED-3, s.v. "language police" [a]). In Canada, the term has acquired a narrower meaning and today language police is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1). Although the term is known nationally, it is most often found in Quebec and Ontario (see Chart 2).
The term shows interesting, yet quite varied connotations. On the one hand, it points to the tensions between French- and English-speaking communities in Quebec, as it is used disparagingly by some English speakers. For the Parti Québécois, which enacted the Charter of the French Language or Bill 101 that engendered the language policies, and for others, the laws, on the other hand, are considered essential to maintaining French cultural integrity in the face of encroachment by English North American linguistic and cultural practices.
See also COD-2, s.v. "language police" (1), which is marked "Cdn (Que.)", and OED-3, s.v. "language police" (b), which is marked "Canad.".
The form language police did not originate in Canada, however, as the term has been used previously elsewhere to refer to groups or persons seeking to impose language standards (see OED-3, s.v. "language police" [a]). In Canada, the term has acquired a narrower meaning and today language police is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1). Although the term is known nationally, it is most often found in Quebec and Ontario (see Chart 2).
The term shows interesting, yet quite varied connotations. On the one hand, it points to the tensions between French- and English-speaking communities in Quebec, as it is used disparagingly by some English speakers. For the Parti Québécois, which enacted the Charter of the French Language or Bill 101 that engendered the language policies, and for others, the laws, on the other hand, are considered essential to maintaining French cultural integrity in the face of encroachment by English North American linguistic and cultural practices.
See also COD-2, s.v. "language police" (1), which is marked "Cdn (Que.)", and OED-3, s.v. "language police" (b), which is marked "Canad.".
Quotations
1977
"A lot of English people here - there's more than a million of us for God's sake - we feel we have no voice anymore. People are talking about leaving, it's madness to talk like that... We're Quebecois aussi (too)." And while Montreal's Jewish community is maintaining its outward cool, there is an undercurrent of worry. "When you start talking about things like language police, surveillance, reports - every Jew has heard this kind of talk before, we have built-in special antennae for this kind of talk. We are not going to go through this again."
1978
The list of misconceptions goes on and on. A correspondent for a British daily called The Globe and Mail's Montreal bureau asking if it would be possible to get a photograph of Quebec's new language police - in uniform as they go about checking on people still using English.
1985
Boudreault's ruling doesn't necessarily mean that Pops down at the corner depanneur should immediately paint back in those English words on his sign he hastily daubed over a few years ago to avoid the wrath of the language police.
1995
The language police of the 1970s and \'80s have been replaced by three employees at the Office who answer complaints and refer them to a team of French-language advisers.
2000
And about the language police who go around photographing English signs and making a fast-food restaurant owner take out his Take Out sign. That was funny!
2010
Those angst-filled years for anglos also led this newspaper and other media to coin such phrases as language law, language police and tongue-trooper (the last two refer to employees of the Office de la langue francaise, an agency that implements the language law).
References
- COD-2
- OED-3
- Canadian Encyclopedia • "Bill 178"
Images
Image 1: Signs such as this one in a supermarket are enforced by language police (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo: Skimel)
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 15 Aug. 2012
