In French, the “correct” word for “penguin” is “manchot” /mãʃo/ , and “pingouin” /pɛ̃ɡwɛ̃/ stayed the word for “great auk” for longer… But translating “penguin” as “pingouin” has grown more and more common. First as a mistake, but at that point it’s not clear anymore what is correct or not. Someone a bit pedantic might correct you if you say “pingouin” instead of “manchot”, but is a linguistic mistake still a mistake when it’s understood by the majority?
My wife and I watched this documentary when it first came out and laughed at him the whole way through. It came up when he was on The Graham Norton show.
In French, the “correct” word for “penguin” is “manchot” /mãʃo/ , and “pingouin” /pɛ̃ɡwɛ̃/ stayed the word for “great auk” for longer… But translating “penguin” as “pingouin” has grown more and more common. First as a mistake, but at that point it’s not clear anymore what is correct or not. Someone a bit pedantic might correct you if you say “pingouin” instead of “manchot”, but is a linguistic mistake still a mistake when it’s understood by the majority?
My wife and I watched this documentary when it first came out and laughed at him the whole way through. It came up when he was on The Graham Norton show.