“Walk the sidewalk” – absolutely not what you imagine –“send text messages” – it’s still not what you think – or even “talk to a trout” are among the hundred expressions found in Daniel Berlion’s book, A small unusual dictionary of sports terms (Larousse).
Business is sesame. Just like the lexicons recently made available by the Ministry of Culture to encourage the use of French words in the four new Olympic sports present in Paris: surfing, sport climbing, urban skating (skateboarding) and breaking (breaking, breaking dance or breakdance). in English). In these disciplines where anglicisms are legion, it is suggested to use “break dancer” and “break dancer” instead of “Bgirl” and “Bboy”. For urban skating, “side spin” is an alternative to “flip”. These neologisms have an educational value and enable the popularization of concepts that would otherwise be incomprehensible to the general public. The dictionary is also dedicated to parasport, a dictionary which “so far it has not been the subject of official definitions”, specified by the Ministry of Culture on the document.
The insider’s dictionary
“Practice these expressions, analyzed by Daniel Berlion, it is to be part of the initiated. If we understand them, it is because we belong to the aristocracy of this sport.” Fans therefore know that “walking the streets” is a term used in Formula 1. Before straw bales and used tires “in order to soften the impacts, the paths were lined with small concrete pavements, explains the former athlete in A small unusual dictionary of sports terms. “When the driver took a bad path that caused him to brush or even hit the curb, the mechanics exclaimed: ‘But anyway, why is he on the pavement?’ The term stuck to describe a driver who takes too wide turns or takes crazy risks.”
And for a kayaker, “telling trout stories” is not poetic. The formula refers to an unpleasant situation: destabilized by strong currents, it can find itself underwater for too long, unable to maneuver to return to its initial position. As for “texting” in sports, it’s not very happy either because it’s like an open book for the opponent. The latter then predicts all your gestures. It’s not easy to take a penalty in these conditions…
“Defending like a salon door” is just as clumsy. Daniel Berlion is particularly fond of this expression, which he shared with franceinfo Culture in a unique way. In rugby, “againstis when the opponent comes and you don’t tackle him”, he explains. “V– You missed him, as if you opened the door for him to do it very quickly.like cowboys walking through saloon doors. “It’s clearly not an effective defense.” In the same register, adds Daniel Berlion, “we also said ‘make traffic’. Parallel with the policeman”who signaled the cars to pass at the intersection with his stick. It is the complete opposite “put up barbed wire”, knowing “install hermetic defense”.
Sports commentators, “smugglers”
“Doing Jesus” is one of the options when we could not resist the opponent. It is also one of Daniel Berlion’s favorite metaphors. “It is well known, writes in his work, THE (rugby players) and especially the leading ones, are not altar boys. So, it was not unusual for a fist to go astray in the crowd despite the referee’s watchful eye. When the commotion ended, we noticed that one of the attackers was lying with his arms crossed.”
“The origin of these very vivid expressions is often obscure,” notes Daniel Berlion who evokes former rugby player turned commentator, Pierre Albaladejo. The latter is known for having incorporated many expressions of folklore from the southwestern region where it originated. “As ‘the flies changed the donkey’, it means that those who dominated became dominated during the match or even ‘the hut fell on the dog’. These are popular expressions like ‘to be a red light’ (on the scale). It is known and originates from the time when the red light was always burning behind the trains. The last carriage is the one with the red lantern,” underlines the author of the famous Bled (for those who know the French language).
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“There is nothing worse, points out Daniel Berlion, but not understanding what the commentator says, for example, while watching a match” or any kind of sports competition. Thanks to these “smugglers”, the formulas eventually become familiar and are integrated into everyday language. To the extent that it is used in other contexts. For a company in difficulties, we will say that it has brought itself into the red, a loan from finance to sport. “For example, if we push too hard while pedaling, we put ourselves in a negative state. Going into a negative state refers to the needle of the meter, which goes red when the radiator is broken. A needle that shows its temperature. If we heat the engine too much, we put us in a negative state.”.
With “finish on the wire”, politics was also inspired by sports. “In athletics, the goal used to be marked with a wire“. From now on, elections can be won down to the wire. “All these expressions enrich the French language… It is an incredible richness.” says Daniel Berlion. I’m in love with the French language”admits the writer who will soon publish a new work, We have to save the spelling.
Helping multilingualism take hold
Since 1972, the French language enrichment system coordinated by the General Delegation for the French language and languages of France at the Ministry of Culture has been included in another type of language rescue. Guarantee of multilingualism, based on “a large network that covers 15 ministries and gathers almost 400 experts”, determined by the act of the ministry. These experts are divided into 19 permanent and thematic groups in charge of proposing new concepts in their fields. In sport, this device allowed the imposition of a “decisive play” against a “tie-break” in tennis, an “open scrum” or “spontaneous scrum” instead of a “ruck” in rugby.
From 2022, the thematic group dedicated to sports worked mainly on preparations for the Olympic Games. Like many others before, the neologisms produced were published in the Official Gazette and are available in the FranceTerme database, which was renamed in 2007 and is almost a quarter of a century old. They are “(recommended) to everyone and (are required) in the service of the state”, can be read on the website of the Ministry of Culture.
Enter purposes
The Olympic Games in Paris are a unique opportunity to fully establish, along with English, the Olympic language of French thanks to Pierre de Coubertin, the inventor of the modern games. “daily challenge” recalls Daniel Zielinski, Ministerial Envoy for Francophonie in the Ministry of Sports and Olympic and Paralympic Games. “Of course, the fact that they are organized in France is a guarantee for the presence of the French language in the same way as English. However, we still asked the Organizing Committee, which is very active in this matter, that both languages are equally present on the inscriptions, on billboards, during official press conferences, in transport, etc.”
With the availability of new words, especially in new Olympic disciplines, “Our ultimate goal is the general public, through French-speaking journalists, who will broadcast and comment on the Games. The fruit of our work is that all this vocabulary enters the dictionary and then into use.”continues Daniel Zielinski, speaking on the pages of the Ministry of Culture, on the occasion of the 29th edition of the Week of the French Language and Francophonie.
The event, which lasts until March 24, is in line with the Games, and its theme “On the podium” is presented through ten words and phrases. Among them is “to tie up”, a verb used in mountaineering and meaning, according to Le Robert, “fasten to the same rope to form a rope”. We also find “go to oranges”, an expression from the Dictionary of French speakers, a French initiative launched two years ago, which unifies the vocabulary used in the French-speaking world. It is used in Senegal, so “getting to halftime of the game, in relation to the oranges the players consume during halftime”. The first step is to hope that the leaders “open the pit locker”, in other words, that the players are generously rewarded in case of victory.