Quelle est la story?
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Yesterday evening, I watched the TF1 reality show (or émission, as the French so appropriately say) Secret Story. My purpose was to revive my knowledge of French, and perhaps to learn a few new words. I was pleased that I could understand most of the dialogue, if not the decor; but one thing that I didn't understand was why a French reality show has an English name.
The Wikipedia entry gives a logical explanation: it's because Secret Story follows the enormous success of Loft Story, which aired in 2001-2002. But this is less of an answer than a generalization of the question. And Loft Story, in turn, was apparently modeled on a Dutch program called Big Brother, which doesn't help; but Wikipedia also explains that "Le titre de l'émission est un jeu de mots sur loft et Love Story", which makes sense, especially in a language where the t in loft is silent — but it would make even more sense in New York or Los Angeles. This is Paris, after all, so why not La Soupente de l'Amour, or whatever?
As it turns out, Geoff Pullum pointed the way to an answer in his classic post "The miserable French language and its inadequacies", back in September of 2005:
Let's be clear (since so many people seem to think the French always have a word for everything): this is a language used by people who are supposed to be the big experts in love and kissing and sexy weekends of ooh-la-la, and they don't have words for "boy", "girl", "warm", "love", "kiss", or "weekend".
A few quick searches of current francophone news sources demonstrates that the French have also felt the need to borrow the English phrase "love story". Some of the more dignified publications still set the phrase off with quotes, especially when prominent figures are involved:
A l’évidence, les récents efforts de discrétion du couple présidentiel n’ont pas permis de redresser la barre : les Français gardent en travers de la gorge les rebondissements de la «love story» élyséenne, entre flirt égyptien coûteux, voyages officiels goujatement expédiés (en Inde), remariage express et apparitions médiatiques répétées de la nouvelle première dame.
Dans une interview à paraître vendredi dans les colonnes du Figaro, l'adjointe au maire de Paris (app. PCF) déplore la " love story " de la candidate du PS avec François Bayrou.
But most of the time, la love story is obviously just a term of everyday usage, like a la carte or faux pas in English:
La chanteuse y narre son coup de foudre et sa love story avec le chef de l’Etat.
Après que sa love story avec McLaren a tourné au cauchemar à torts partagés, Fernando Alonso est dans une situation délicate.
Et oui ! Il semblerait que la love story entre l’actrice Rose McGowan et le réalisateur Robert Rodriguez soit de l’histoire ancienne !
Les deux apprentis-chanteurs de la dernière Star Ac' ont décidé de dévoiler leur love-story.
Ce n'est un secret pour personne, mais la love story continue entre Estelle Denis et le sélectionneur de l'équipe de France de football Raymond Domenech.
La mise en place de sa love story avec la journaliste Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) intéresse par l'évidence pudique de leur attirance toute spirituelle.
Malgré sa love story avec Ashlee Simpson, le rockeur du groupe Fall Out Boy, Pete Wentz, est toujours assimilé à un homo.
But the story story doesn't end there — French has borrowed not only stories of love, but also of success:
Avec ce nouveau design, Dacia et Renault espèrent continuer la success-story commencée en 2004 avec cette voiture à bas coût …
Coco est un type parti de rien et arrivé au top, le genre success story incarnée.
Car l'Irlande, c'est la success story à l'européenne: le dragon celtique a un niveau de vie aujourd'hui 34 % au-dessus de la France, alors qu'il était 60 % plus faible en 1980.
Une fois que nous avons compris cela, Christophe a écrit un déroulé pour raconter, à travers la danse électro, la success story d’ados devenus des stars.
La succes story du téléphone mobile est assez significative.
Retour sur la success story d’un surdoué du ballon rond.
There is a long journalistic tail of other sorts of stories as well:
L'ancien numéro un mondial, tombeur de Djokovic, a été le feel good story de la première semaine, mais toute bonne histoire a une fin.
C'est une "domestic story" avant tout et l'expansion en est à ses débuts avec des taux officiels aux alentours de 12 %.
Voici donc, résumé brièvement, la Suzette story… Sortie en 1999, la SV 650 est directement dérivée de la petite 400 qui sévit au pays du soleil levant.
Even, of course, secret stories:
Madonna vivrait-elle une secret story avec Alex Rodriguez, le Zinédine Zidane du baseball américain, alors qu’elle est au bord du divorce avec Guy Ritchie ?
And therefore, unsurprisingly, plain unmodified stories:
Recyclage naturel pour celui que la story de la Société générale décrivait comme un « hacker de génie », capable de pirater les sytèmes d’information de la banque ?
Quelle est la "story" de ce chef d'entreprise ? En parfait professionnel qu'il est, il n'a pas attendu qu'on la raconte à sa place.
Anyhow, I've now added a new word to my French vocabulary: story.
Dave M said,
July 4, 2008 @ 2:04 am
If A-Rod is the Zinédine Zidane of le baseball américain, does that mean he's going to head-butt Josh Beckett in tomorrow's game with the Red Sox (after fanning, one hopes, for the third time)?
Jean-Sébastien Girard said,
July 4, 2008 @ 3:12 am
Just a quick mention that this usage (except "success story") is a strictly European thing (it's worth repeating that English has these days the same appeal Italian once had). In Quebec, "histoire d'amour" is the only form you'll see for this.
dr pepper said,
July 4, 2008 @ 3:41 am
The Academy will not be pleased.
JREL said,
July 4, 2008 @ 3:55 am
I second Jean-Sébastien on this, although I'd add that it's a French thing rather than a European one. I have yet to hear it on Swiss TV — the only place I can picture it would be in the Celebrities section of the popular press (the so-called "pages people").
Laurent C said,
July 4, 2008 @ 5:36 am
Hi, I must say I view these terms as journalist talk. It's okay to use such expressions about famous people in the context of tabloids (that we call "presse people") or reality tv culture, but I would never think of describing a relationship between "normal" people – people that I know – as a "love story". Not when speaking French, that is.
(However, I must admit I could say "success story" in some contexts – "histoire à succès" lacks punch).
Mark P said,
July 4, 2008 @ 5:56 am
"Hi, I must say I view these terms as journalist talk."
Sniff, sniff. Perhaps. I bet the teenage girls take a different view.
"I have yet to hear it on Swiss TV"
I bet you have, but it's so widespread that you don't even notice. Just as an English speaker doesn't bat an eyelid at deja vu or etcetera as foreign words.
http://video.lematin.ch/video/iLyROoafYstz.html
You can see it in black and white in the Swiss papers:
http://www.tdg.ch/pages/home/tribune_de_geneve/l_actu/monde/detail_monde/(contenu)/233336
That's two minutes searching.
"The Academy will not be pleased."
The Academy lost long ago on this issue. Modern colloquial French is riddled with Anglicisms these days.
My favourite: "top model avec six air-bags" advertising a car.
(Of course the English words don't always mean the same things. A "jogging" is clothing. A "coaching" if football is running on a replacement.)
Matthew Austin said,
July 4, 2008 @ 6:31 am
Any ideas as to why it might be 'LA love/success story' but 'LE feel good story'?
Kilian Hekhuis said,
July 4, 2008 @ 6:47 am
Usually in French, modifiers follow the noun (except for a small group of adjectives). But with these imported English phrases, the modifier preceeds it. How do the French parse these English phrases, if at all?
Diarmuid said,
July 4, 2008 @ 8:27 am
Some quick and dirty Google data for German:
"die|eine * story" gets 11,600,000 hits, a mixed bag with a fair proportion of adjectival modification ("eine spannende Story", "die packende Story"), but also proper noun modifiers ("die Joachim-Löw-Story", "Die Warren Buffett-Story", often names of documentaries or newspaper articles, I think) as well as our friends "Lovestory" and "Erfolgsstory".
Comparing to French:
"die|eine Lovestory": 27,800 hits
"die|eine Liebesstory": 2,010 hits
"une|la love story": 103,000 hits
"die|eine Erfolgsstory": 259,000 hits
"une|la success story": 107,000 hits
Claire said,
July 4, 2008 @ 8:38 am
French journalists use English so much, it's hilarious/atrocious.
For example, 'Notre best of de l'été' = Our 'best of' of the summer. Yes, 'of' followed by 'de'.
My pet HATE is 'les people' for 'celebrities'.
And then I even read 'une people' to mean 'a female celebrity'.
It's madness I tell you.
Mark Liberman said,
July 4, 2008 @ 9:09 am
Matthew Austin: Any ideas as to why it might be 'LA love/success story' but 'LE feel good story'?
I believe it's because "le feel good story" is in a copular/equative relationship with a male subject:
"L'ancien numéro un mondial … a été le feel good story de la première semaine"
"The former worldwide number one [a male tennis player] … was the feel good story of the first week …"
Sunny said,
July 4, 2008 @ 10:24 am
Earlier this year, I received an e-mail ad from SNCF that had the header "Découvrez nos spots TV." I laughed heartily; however, as a non-native (but fluent) speaker of French, it is a little annoying to have spent years learning and trying to master the language, only to hear so many Anglicisms.
C'est la vie, I suppose.
Jean-Sébastien Girard said,
July 4, 2008 @ 11:25 am
@JREL. I tend to say "European" on such issues, 'cause I don't know how much saying "French" would be accurate (I know many Quebec usage are founbd regionally or outside France).
@Mark P: I took the time to look on Radio-Canada and Canoe before stupid stuff. "Love Story" refers to things like songs and movies (two instances of the European sense are on Canoë in the entertainment section, probably intended to be "trendy", but they just feel way out of place). Although "success story" is used more than "histoire à sucès", it's frequently marked with the "foreign quotes".
Sili said,
July 4, 2008 @ 11:44 am
Off topic, I know, but is there any reason French uses gulliemets pointing «out», while for instance Danish has them pointing »in«?
sollersuk said,
July 4, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
What intrigues me is the gender. My immediate reaction is to suppose that "story" is feminie for the same reason that "star" is: that the French nearest equivalents (histoire, vedette) are feminine. BTW, it greatly disconcerted a friend of mine who read an article starting "La star est Arnold Schwartzenegger" that went on to refer to him as "elle" throughout because it started with a feminine noun.
Adrian Bailey said,
July 4, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
I still find it odd that French has (at least?) three ways of asking "What is…?": "Quelle est la story?" "C'est quoi la story?" "Qu'est-ce que la story?"
I don't think I would've gone with Mark's choice, unless he means "Which is…?"
Mark Liberman said,
July 4, 2008 @ 5:06 pm
Adrian Bailey: I don't think I would've gone with Mark's choice, unless he means "Which is…?"
I was just quoting the feature article that began "Quelle est la 'story' de ce chef d'entreprise ?"
Originally I had "Quelle est la story de ce mot?", but I decided that was too long and too specific.
Coby Lubliner said,
July 4, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
The French use of "story" is not particularly new. A movie titled "Zig Zag Story" came out in 1983.
Mark P said,
July 4, 2008 @ 8:26 pm
Jean-Sébastien — I never suggested that you were wrong. I did have a poke at a couple of other replies, but not yours.
My experience is only European (French and Swiss) and it is that English words riddle French these days. It is most prevalent at the less intellectual end, but pervasive.
As quite a poor speaker of French, I struggled to not confuse their meanings in English with their meanings in French.
Pronunciation was also an issue. For example, I had far more problems getting myself understood in McDonalds ordering things with English names than I ever did with pure French words.
Jean-Sébastien Girard said,
July 4, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
@Adrian: Actually "Qu'est-ce que la story" is very different in meaning from "quelle est la story". "Qu'est ce que" only translate "what is" in a Jeopardy context. "C'est quoi X" is decidedly more informal (although it's not unlikely in a headline). Mark's choice is perfectly legit on all counts.
@Mark P: I didn't take it as an attack. I just thought I should explain my reasoning.
dr pepper said,
July 5, 2008 @ 1:04 am
> BTW, it greatly disconcerted a friend of mine who read an article starting
> "La star est Arnold Schwartzenegger" that went on to refer to him as
> "elle" throughout because it started with a feminine noun.
Girly Man!
john riemann soong said,
July 5, 2008 @ 3:21 am
It happens for "une personne" too, especially when you ask a French hotel operator for a decidedly male one.
baylink said,
July 6, 2008 @ 12:16 am
I'm tempted to do the riff about "a country where they keep the urinals on the sidewalk, and Jerry Lewis is a god", but perhaps it's a cheap shot.
Marc Naimark said,
July 6, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
Actually, the "t" in "loft" IS pronounced. But I suppose it does get a bit lost in all those consonants (ft-st).
To follow up on Claire's comment, along with "le best-of de…", we have "le making-of de…".
Marc Naimark said,
July 6, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
About "la star", there's a twofer here: as stated, the French equivalent, "vedette", is feminine. But the direct translation of "star", "étoile", is also feminine.
As to the strangeness that ensues when a feminine noun refers to a man, it is not limited to "la star", but occurs with common words like "recrue" (recruit) or "victime", and of course "personne". But this shocks much more than the even more common occurrences of masculine nouns being used for women. Wonder why….
Marc Naimark said,
July 6, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
Something that doesn't come through here is that although there is a French word "secret", meaning exactly the same as the word in English, and pronounced as a French word (with an "é" sound), in the title of the show, the word is pronounced as in English.
nominalize said,
July 7, 2008 @ 1:53 am
There's nothing odd about this at all. French popular culture borrows anglicisms when it borrows cultural institutions that are (perceived to be) American or English. This includes the "jet-set" and modern pop celebrity cultures, and sports.
For instance, the use of "les people" and the derivative "la pipolisation" is used to describe the kind of celebrity worship that is associated (rightly or not) with Hollywood and paparazzi.
A "star" is more of the big, hollywood-type kind of stardom. A "vedette" is not, necessarily. All these "stories" are associated with the kinds of stories found in American movies; a "love story" isn't just any "histoire d'amour," which tend to, as the famous song goes, end badly. A "love story" is happily ever after. A "success story," which usually ends with "un self-made-man," is for some reason considered a cultural import, and so are these other stories.
Laurent C said,
July 7, 2008 @ 5:37 am
@Marc Naimark: Saying "secret" the French way in "secret story" wouldn't work: as a French adjective, it would have to agree in gender with story, and would be placed after the noun: "une story secrète" which sounds awful (and treats story as a French word). Secret story works as a set expression, that is generally said the English way (which somehow makes odd adjective position and gender acceptable).
Marc Naimark said,
July 7, 2008 @ 8:37 am
@Laurent C: Perhaps, but I've never understood "secret" in "Secret Story" to be in any way a normal adjective. For me it's a noun modifying "story". It's a story about a secret, not a story that is secret.
@nominalize: And don't forget that an individual can be "un people".
Jason F. Siegel said,
July 8, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
@ Mark & Matthew: I think the "le feel-good story" is actually just a reflection of the default tendency to assign masculine gender to words borrowed from languages without gender. The exception to this tendency is when the word has a clear French equivalent (in this case "histoire") that is a feminine noun. So my guess is that "le feel-good story" is a fluke occurrence, and not a systematic difference.
john riemann soong said,
July 8, 2008 @ 7:14 pm
"reflection of the default tendency to assign masculine gender to words borrowed from languages without gender. "
I was once told that when looking at how French assigns gender to place names for example, the pattern is often based on reanalysed morphology, even when there isn't a Latin root (c.f. feminine nouns l'Ukraine and la Finlande).
Whereas "feel-good" calls to mind (in terms of like pronunciation) "fil" and "goût" (especially with the English tendency to swallow word-final plosives), both of which are masculine.
Eric said,
March 28, 2014 @ 4:00 am
Every language has words and concepts with no single equivalent in other languages.