Forget the grammar police stalking Facebook and Twitter for your misspellings and typos. There's an official, actual language police force, and it's located in Quebec, Canada.
Officers on the force -- which is officially titled "Office Québécois de la Langue Française -- are tasked with ensuring that store and road signs are all written in French, the province's official language. As you can probably imagine, the department is often ridiculed and mocked for imposing apparently trivial restrictions (and for, you know, existing).
Due to a letter I received from the Quebec French Language Police (ASULF), you now must pronounce D J "Dah Jhay" at least half the time
— DJ McMillan (@DJMcMillan) December 17, 2015
Quebec is such a fucking weird place. They have a language police because there are literally no other issues here to address...— gajdosick (@MGAUG3) November 7, 2015
Now, a business owner is claiming that the language police is mad about the words "enjoy" and "grilled cheese" appearing in her shop that sells -- you guessed it -- grilled cheese sandwiches.
According to a letter that the department sent to La Resto Mama Grilled Cheese Gourmet, using the English words for the sandwich is against policy per section 58 of the Charter of the French Language, which stipulates that "public signs and posters and commercial advertising must be in French." The section stipulates that two languages can be used, but only if French is "markedly predominant."
The co-owner of the restaurant, Stephane Rheaume, spoke to Global News about the letter.
"There are some terms that you can't change. A sushi is a sushi -- you can't call it a Japanese roll," Rheaume told the news site. "A grilled cheese is a grilled cheese. It's not a sandwich du fromage fondu."
This is the first warning he has received since the shop opened more than two years ago, he added.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));La fameuse lettrePosted by Resto la mama grilled cheese on Friday, January 15, 2016
After posting the missives he received from the department on his Facebook page, word began to spread about the taboo signage.
The language police quickly issued a statement saying that the department was only concerned with the word "enjoy," and not "grilled cheese," but Rheaume believes the department is only backtracking after receiving an onslaught of criticism.
"...On the letter we received yesterday, both words are in black and white, saying that those words are not appropriate," he told Global News. "But this morning they're coming back and saying that grilled cheese probably will be appropriate, because it's a business name."
Aliens will never invade Quebec cuz even they don't want to have to deal with the language police.— Nick Kornek (@nkornek) July 16, 2015
Quebec language police ordr English removed from bilingual hospital signs in Gaspe. How celebrating diversity is handled here. I'm in QC— The Roy Green Show (@TheRoyGreenShow) November 5, 2015
If we could all just take a minute and think about the fact that Quebec has "language police"— Marian Martinez (@missmartinezxo) September 24, 2015
We have language police in Quebec, yes language police #onlyinquebec pic.twitter.com/ByoGrfws6F — Skylover (@ksky67) December 18, 2015
Rheaume will be meeting with officers in February to discuss the next steps in the complaint. So far, he has added a larger french translation to the "enjoy" sign to comply with policy.
In past years, the language police has also taken issue with non-French lettering on hospital signs, town signs, a cupcake shop and even food trucks. There has been a long history of dispute over the policy's validity and purpose since it was adopted in 1977 in an attempt to preserve the French culture of Quebec.
Rheaume, who told Global News that he is generally supportive of the language mandate, said that the language police in this instance "lacked discretion."