Au revoir 'it girl' - France's latest attempt to purge language of English phrases

France has suggested bidding au revoir to “it girl” and replacing it with the French equivalent “icône de la mode” as it released a string of  "official" Gallic fashion terms it hopes will supplant their English counterparts timed to coincide with Paris Fashion Week.

France’s “commission for enriching the French language” - which answers directly to the prime minister - this week published the list in the country’s official journal in its latest attempt to repel the invasion of English by encouraging the adoption of homegrown alternatives.

Thus, “it girl” or “it boy” should whenever possible be replaced with “icône de la mode” - a French phrase that has the advantage of being gender-neutral and which the commission defined as meaning: “A person, most often young, whose look and dress style are a reference.”

In a similar vein, the commission hoped to ward off “it bag” with “sac iconique”, which it defined as a “trendy or iconic brand handbag that is a must-have”.

Most French media adopted 'fashion week' term

On that note, it urged French fashionistas to drop the term “must-have” and replace it with “incontournable”.

It offered alternatives for “tote bag”, from “sac publicitaire” to “sac fourre-tout” (literally shove-in-everything bag).

Begone the seemingly harmless “lifestyle”, which it suggested ejecting in favour of “style de vie”.

Also seen as a linguistic no-no, the phrase “try before you buy” now has the catchy French equivalent of “essayer-acheter”.

In general, the commission argued that derivatives of the word fashion such as “fashion addict” and “fashionista” had perfectly valid French equivalents, such as “amoureux, féru, fou, passionné de (la) mode” or “modeux” and “mordu de mode”, while fashion victim could easily be replaced by “victime de la mode”.

However, a quick look at the French press on Thursday suggested most media had adopted the English term “fashion week” rather than “semaine de la mode” to describe the haute couture shows in the French capital this week.

'Terminological production in French is imperative'

All terms in the official journal become compulsory in texts published by state bodies but remain simple recommendations in the private sector.

They are rubber-stamped by France’s hallowed Académie Française, official guardians of the French language, who last year published a doom-laden report warning that the invasion of “franglais” in public life had reached a “critical juncture” and risked fuelling social unrest.

“Of course, French is alive and well”, wrote the language enrichment commission on its website by way of justification.

“But to avoid professionals in certain fields being forced to resort massively to the use of foreign terms which are not understandable by all, the creation of French terms to name today’s realities must be encouraged and facilitated: terminological production in French is therefore imperative.”