Its “Commission of Economic & Financial Terminology” says previous translations of the term are not good enough.

“Therefore, the Commission ... advises French people to use the expression ‘prets hypothecaires a haut risque’ (high risk mortgage loans) which is a term already used by the banking industry,” it said in a statement this week.

But there have been few signs of that phrase in the French media where the snappier “subprime” rules when talk is of risky property loans that have caused widespread banking losses.

France has mounted a stout defense of its native language in the face of the increasing use of American and English terms in everyday French life. It often turns to the Academie Francaise, set up in 1635, to maintain linguistic standards.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email