Solar liseuse charger (or: "Enjoyable descent into unutterable silliness.")

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I call my car "Vivian."

There's a story there, I'm sure of it.

[JSWolf]

You see, using a word that has no real meaning for what you want it to mean derails the thread. Can we please start this over and do it right so we stay on topic please?

[vivaldirules]

Maybe liseuse isn't the best name for it but "ebook reader" hardly seems ideal (that would be me, thank you). Nor "ebook display" (sounds like a dumb monitor). Since no one that I know in the nonvirtual world has one yet, as far as I can tell, except for me, it seems perfectly reasonable to consider new ideas for a name. I think adopting liseuse would be unlikely. Okay, impossible - at least in the U.S. Maybe they'll all soon be called Kindles.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

There's a story there, I'm sure of it.

Yup, but not a very interesting one.

I bought the car from my grandmother when she decided at 87 that she was done driving. She's not one to name cars, so it had none. Her middle name (which she doesn't use) is Vivian, and it amuses me to call the car after her ... partly because she thinks it's silly.

See? not much of a story.

Why I called my last car Maggie even though it was named Marion is a much better story, but only to those who know the people involved.

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Maybe liseuse isn't the best name for it but "ebook reader" hardly seems ideal (that would be me, thank you). Nor "ebook display" (sounds like a dumb monitor). Since no one that I know in the nonvirtual world has one yet, as far as I can tell, except for me, it seems perfectly reasonable to consider new ideas for a name. I think adopting liseuse would be unlikely. Okay, impossible - at least in the U.S. Maybe they'll all soon be called Kindles.

Someone suggested a while back that we call them "mReaders" because they're for reading and their mobile.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Maybe liseuse isn't the best name for it but "ebook reader" hardly seems ideal (that would be me, thank you). Nor "ebook display" (sounds like a dumb monitor). Since no one that I know in the nonvirtual world has one yet, as far as I can tell, except for me, it seems perfectly reasonable to consider new ideas for a name. I think adopting liseuse would be unlikely. Okay, impossible - at least in the U.S. Maybe they'll all soon be called Kindles.

seems likely, like kleenex and frigidaire became genericised. in france it might well be liseuse though, unless amazon starts to sell them here (we say "kleenex" in french as well although "kindle" doesn't really roll off the tongue in a french accent).

for the malcontents who reject the use of "liseuse", it did actually emerge from a legitimate, sincere discussion searching for a good generic word for a device (other than "device" obviously), and while it is possible that "liseuse" doesn't have much future in english (although, with moz's efforts, i'm not so sure ), in french its use in several different places would indicate that it *already* has been at least partially adopted, and perhaps is not familiar to everyone simply because the devices themselves remain relatively unknown (none of my friends had ever heard of a dedicated reading device of any sort, much less had a name for it ; so whatever word i used when i first mentioned it to them i had to explain. now if i say "ma liseuse" they know what i mean).

it's still early enough days (in terms of general public awareness, at least) that the vocabulary is in the process of being created / defined, i think, and possibly discussions like this are part of that process (it doesn't bother me at all ; i like language, etymology, and neologisms, and i can have conversations about words all day long ). i'm sure there were also some refractaries back in the day who obstinately insisted on saying "paper handkerchief", arguing that "kleenex" was a barbaric nonsense...

this particular thread did get somewhat derailed by the discussion of the term, but i do notice that a significant portion of the derailment is the protestations against the use of the word, more than the explanation...

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

... although "kindle" doesn't really roll off the tongue in a french accent ....

I suppose that kinda makes sense, it's apparently from an Old Norse word, and the Vikings weren't especially interested in sharing their language with the folks they, er ... visited.

[Cthulhu]

@Taylor:

Did you know Dvorak, the renowned Czech composer, is meant to have his name pronounced Divorzhyak? See, in Czech, there's this funky V8 symbol that totally transforms single letters into dipthongs. Either for decades no one beyond slavs cared, or had the technology to reproduce that symbol. Does that mean that his name need not be pronounced the way his family meant it?

Pardon my petulance, but anglo-centric prounounciations prejudices perturb me.

Where is that little instigator, MOZ?
For my part, a solar charger that was efficient would be a pretty nifty addition to a functioning e-ink Ebook.
(Why you people persist in calling the thing that serves as a book anything but a book is beyond me.)


Moz, were you considering the charger by itself, or the bag? If I were more ambulatory during the day, would seriously consider a gadget-charging bag.

[Taylor514ce]

You'll have to trust me on this, but I care profoundly how words are pronounced and used. (You will have to imagine the dense crowd of former students figuratively looking over my shoulder as I type, nodding and rolling their eyes at the understatement.) I'm also a fluent French speaker. But, there is still no reason to use the term "liseuse" for e-book readers, in English. None. It solves no problems, clarifies nothing.

I suppose it makes no difference if someone wants to engage in a petty eccentricity, using obscure foreign nouns in place of perfectly clear English, but it does lend itself to ridicule and completely obscures the main point.

Solar Chargers. Sure. Seems a good thing. I think I'll call Solar Chargers "Zonneladers". In another thread, I decided to call cell phones "gimboos". Can you tell me if the zonnelader you've tested works on gimboos as well as liseuses?

[moz]

I just bought the small stand-alone charger, not the bag. The bag strikes me as silly, but that's because I'm a mountain climbing outdoory type and I want bags to do specific things (when I moved from NZ to OZ I sold 5 or 6 backpacks, leaving me with only 3). So a single bag with solar cells on it wouldn't work for me. The tiny one I have works pretty well, it's pocket-sized and quite effective for that size. I've ordered one of the mini-USB-with-power-jack things that will let me charge the liseuse while I'm reading so at that point I'll be all go.

And, oh great old one, words often mutate when they move between languages. Even hearing people from Asia (either definition) speaking English is enough of a challenge without trying to persuade merkins to pronounce French words correctly. My partner is called Phuong, and in Vietnamese that's kinda "foo-oong" as one-and-a-half syllables, which I can kinda pronounce if I need to, but when speaking English even Vietnamese speakers commonly pronounce it "foong" with one syllable and no accent. Ozzies pronounce it all sorts of ways, fo-ung, fong, fung, fu-ong, you name it. Shirt happens.

[moz]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Can you tell me if the zonnelader you've tested works on gimboos as well lisuses?

Yes I can, since you defined the terms. But since you're rude, I shan't.

[Taylor514ce]

Rude? Yes, I can see that I've been rude; rather, that since I refuse to use emoticons, generally, my posts on the topic have nothing to moderate their tone. Apology offered. I'm not upset and have nothing against you personally, I just think you've been rather silly. That isn't an indictment; Lord, have you seen the pointless stuff I've been posting?

[Cthulhu]

For an amazingly advanced, immensely brained automaton, you really are lazy Taylor.
Remember, "Who's on First?" does not read as funny.

There is ever a distinction 'twixt written and oral comedy.
Thus, those poncy wee swiggles beneath one's post do wonder to rectify and clarify emotional intent.
;-
PS: That last post was beyond hilarious.

@ MOZ: I like the idea of a satchel that can recharge my stuff, like the magnetic induction charging pads that I would purchase, if they sold the components for my Treo. As it is, am not out and about enough to justify such an expense, but I like the concept.

[moz]

Yeah, I go bicycle touring so it's useful to me to have a solar charger. My current setup weighs about 10kg though, so it's not really a daily use thing (well, I'm tempted to take my UPS battery which is 25kg by itself but I don't want to carry the weight). For under $50 the pocket device is great, it works for me. Especially since it also recharges my phone and compact camera.

[balok]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

in french its use in several different places would indicate that it *already* has been at least partially adopted

I wouldn't expect it to be adopted even in French. In France, it's not hip to use a good French word when you can use the English word à la française, comme mél au lieu d'email (et non courriel).

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by balok

I wouldn't expect it to be adopted even in French. In France, it's not hip to use a good French word when you can use the English word à la française, comme mél au lieu d'email (et non courriel).

well, it's a good point, but i think that depends who your friends are i personally don't know anyone who says "courriel" but i don't know anyone who says "mél" either ; we all say "mail" (i admit it's pronounced "mél" ).

actually, although i don't mind english neologisms imported into french when it's justified (mail...), using english words in french when there is a perfectly good or better french equivalent, just because some idiot thinks it's "hype" (a perfect example : nothing is "branché" anymore, it's "hype") drives me crazy. i often get hired for projects by a communications agency ; they do this all the time and i have to make a big effort not to correct them or pretend not to understand. the worst is when they have a list that they want formatted. they tell me, "put bullet points", which they name in english, pronouncing them "boolette po-ynz" (4 syllables, in french). is this because we *have* no word for bullet points in french ? or perhaps it is a long and cumbersome para-phrase, and "bullet points" in english is more convenient ? NO !! they are called "puces" bordel !! it's one syllable ! arg !! it's ridiculous to call them "boolette poynz". please !!! CALL THEM PUCES !!!

anyway, sorry for the slightly off-topic rant, it is a personal bête noire of mine ; to get back to the actual topic, all this to say, i suspect that in some circles, "liseuse" will gain a lot of ground, before "reader" (which, based on previous experience with adobe acrobat, will be pronounced "raï-deur" and no-one who uses it will realize it means "lecteur").

where are all the other francophones on this forum ?? Irène ? Hadrien ? votre avis ?