Why the French are mangling their own language

to Hermès, France’s luxury brands proudly ooze their quintessential Frenchness. But in many other industries French firms seek to disguise their national origins. , a French insurer, chose a name that means nothing and can be pronounced in all languages. Suez, a French energy firm, renamed itself Engie, a word that apparently “evokes energy…in all cultures”. Now a nation forged through a common language, which it doggedly strives to defend, is taking such linguistic mangling to another level. In recent years the country has succumbed to the meaningless globish beloved of startups the world over. Among its own firms are Mirakl, a French software firm, or Lunchr, which operates a smartcard for meal vouchers (and recently rebranded itself Swile, although to an English ear that sounds like a mixture of swill and bile). A greater delight is France’s fondness for brands composed of phonetic misspellings of its own phrases. Kiloutou, which in French sounds like or “who hires everything”, rents out diggers and mechanical equipment. Kinougarde, a play on (“who looks after us”), is a child-care service. Recently the group that owns Buffalo Grill, a restaurant chain which describes itself as “”, renamed itself Napaqaro, which in French () sounds like “checked table-cloth”.