I’m a native speaker. “Égalité Irrefléchie” sounds ankward. I preffer “Égalitarisme irréfléchi” (back to male gender by the way). The first would be “thoughtless equality”, while my version would be “thoughtless egalitarianism”. But frankly, neither sound very good.
We have an approaching idiomatic term however: “Nivellement par le bas”. Which quite literally means achieving equality by lowering upper bounds instead of raising the lower ones. It calls the image of cutting mountains off instead of filling the valleys. This expression is widely used as an applause light when talking about schools. (Generally, it goes like: “Let’s help failing children in such and such way”, then “But that method will slow everyone else down! That’s a nivellement par le bas!”)
(Oh, and please don’t forget the diacritic in Égalitarisme or “Égalité”. French typography requires it)
We have an approaching idiomatic term however: “Nivellement par le bas”. Which quite literally means achieving equality by lowering upper bounds instead of raising the lower ones.
English also has a similar term, “tall poppy syndrome”. To make all the poppies the same height, you behead the tallest ones.
I acknowledge the tradition, but have rejected it since I used a decent French layout. Now, you can easily have them with a US layout by using dead keys (they can a mild chore if write mostly in English though).
I’m not a native speaker of French. I’m not any speaker of French. I gave up on trying to learn it (and Japanese, except to say wakarimasen). German is tolerable. English is quirky, but has a big enough installed user base.
I’m a native speaker. “Égalité Irrefléchie” sounds ankward. I preffer “Égalitarisme irréfléchi” (back to male gender by the way). The first would be “thoughtless equality”, while my version would be “thoughtless egalitarianism”. But frankly, neither sound very good.
We have an approaching idiomatic term however: “Nivellement par le bas”. Which quite literally means achieving equality by lowering upper bounds instead of raising the lower ones. It calls the image of cutting mountains off instead of filling the valleys. This expression is widely used as an applause light when talking about schools. (Generally, it goes like: “Let’s help failing children in such and such way”, then “But that method will slow everyone else down! That’s a nivellement par le bas!”)
(Oh, and please don’t forget the diacritic in Égalitarisme or “Égalité”. French typography requires it)
English also has a similar term, “tall poppy syndrome”. To make all the poppies the same height, you behead the tallest ones.
While it’s true that diacritics on capitals are now recommended, it should be acknowledged that there was a tradition of leaving them out.
Thanks for the info on the expression nivellement par le bas.
I acknowledge the tradition, but have rejected it since I used a decent French layout. Now, you can easily have them with a US layout by using dead keys (they can a mild chore if write mostly in English though).
Are you in or near Paris by any chance? We have an upcoming meetup on June 25.
I’m not a native speaker of French. I’m not any speaker of French. I gave up on trying to learn it (and Japanese, except to say wakarimasen). German is tolerable. English is quirky, but has a big enough installed user base.