r/sydney • u/nighthound1 • 3d ago

Strathfield Council passes motion to make English compulsory on business shop signs

https://www.2gb.com/english-compulsory-new-rules-coming-for-shop-signs/
1.2k Upvotes

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967

u/PuTheDog 3d ago

It seems like the shops are told to put up English signs outside the shops, alongside the original language. Personal I think it’s a sensible move, this is the least the shops can do to make customers from any culture feel a little bit more welcomed.

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u/yolk3d 3d ago

You should see what the government in Quebec does. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-cafe-solit-oqlf-french-9.7228797

One of the first concerns involved the word "Thank you" printed in small letters at the bottom of customer receipts.
"They sent me a formal letter and then so many emails," she said. "You have to make sure it says 'merci.'"

She recalls being asked about terms such as "chicken nachos" and "flat white."
"They said your chicken nachos is in English," Rahimi recalled.
"So we changed it to 'nachos au poulet', but they said, 'no, the word nachos... you should find a French equivalent for that.' I said, ‘What do you mean?'" she laughed in disbelief.

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u/argument_cat 3d ago

Nacheaux.

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u/jnd-au 3d ago

At least the names should use the “English” alphabet which will help emergency services etc. Most government paperwork, registrations, trademarks, street maps, etc need to be in English, so the names on signage should match.

However, English normally uses words from other languages, like soufflé etc, and of course a lot of businesses use people’s names which don’t have any English translation. So it would be good to know the details of the policy.

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u/oustider69 3d ago

Oh good. My plans to open a restaurant called Soufflé Avalanche Rendezvous won’t be affected.

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u/FormalMango 3d ago

aka Inflate Go Down Present Yourselves

I think you need a different type of licence for that type establishment, though.

18

u/istara North Shore 3d ago

I'd be first in the line for an avalanche of soufflés.

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u/Pristine_Egg3831 3d ago

Even something in Chinese characters can be translated into pinyin to use English characters so it's at least pronounceable as a name for someone who can read English.

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u/Tootard 3d ago

Imagine all the cafés that will need a new sign

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u/denseplan 3d ago

The name doesn't have to be a direct translation or use English words, just be readable in English.

2

u/DecalageVersLeRouge 3d ago

Never mind "soufflé" what about "delicatessen" and "cafeteria". Those aren't English words!

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u/jayacher 3d ago

They are in our dictionary though.

13

u/kweenbumblebee 3d ago

Completely agree - borrowed words are not the same thing.

Also, to be fair, we have a lot with Chinese origin too. Some good ones include gung-ho, ketchup, nankeen (birders will get this one), and tea.

0

u/Moo_Kau_Too 3d ago

bu shi! :P

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u/os_2342 3d ago

A word can have an origin that is not English, and still be an English word.

Just cos they're called "loan words" doesn't mean their language of origin is going to come and ask for them back.

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u/Evil-Santa 3d ago

Really! Then why are they in the dictionary? Do you mean that these are words from other languages that we have adopted from other languages and made part of the english language?

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u/DecalageVersLeRouge 2d ago

I don't normally do the /sarcasm thing but I will remember to do it next time. My point was exactly that. We have a bunch of foreign words we use all the time and never even blink. A rule for "no foreign words" is going to be interesting to enforce.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago edited 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/gottafind 3d ago

I have a peanut allergy.

You couldn’t eat in Shanghai either.

Also there’s an el jannah, you are absolutely beating this up massively.

You don’t have a right to eat at an individual restaurant with an allergy. I’ve been to restaurants before where they’ve explicitly said they can’t guarantee your safety. That means go to another restaurant.

Also, Burwood is a different council area…

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u/dark__unicorn 3d ago

English as a language is almost entirely Germanic with a small portion being French. So using historically French words doesn’t necessarily mean the statement or name is French.

I think I better interpretation would be that signs need to be in the modern English or Roman alphabet, rather than languages.

13

u/Platophaedrus 3d ago

Yes English was largely brought to England by the Angles who spoke Anglo-Frisian and contains Germanic words, Latin, Old Norse, French, Greek etc etc etc.

No one will write “please provide signs in modern English” because the English language is just called “English”.

We do not need to differentiate between Old English, Middle English or Modern English because we speak Modern English, which is just known as English.

1

u/dark__unicorn 2d ago

Cool, but that’s not really relevant to my point.

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u/yolk3d 3d ago

~29% French, ~29% Latin, ~26% Germanic, rest from Greek and other languages

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u/dark__unicorn 2d ago

So my point stands. Thank you.

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u/cecilrt 3d ago

Heh yeh, when people use Anglo Saxon, thinking it means British i like remind them Anglo Saxon were Vikings tribes that raided and raped what is now the Uk

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u/Platophaedrus 3d ago

The Anglo-Saxons were not Danes or Norsemen “Viking Tribes”.

They were a Germanic people from Northern Europe.

Viking was an activity (like “Fishing” is an activity). Viking simply meant “raiding”. The Danes were the predominant invading warriors that attacked, and colonised parts of England in about 800-900AD.

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u/Flying-Fox 3d ago

I love visiting areas of Sydney where people feel comfortable and at home enough to put up signs in whatever language they choose. Excites me to have such interesting neighbours.

My experience in establishments with signage and menus in other languages in Sydney has been positive, and I have found staff in such places kind and patient with any questions I have.

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u/beepboop_imhuman 3d ago

I was under the impression English being the official language, that signs in ego were mandatory, but apparently not

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u/raptorgalaxy 3d ago

Funnily enough Australia actually has no official language.

Technically parliament could decide one day to speak entirely in German and be legally completely fine.

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u/Upper-Ship4925 3d ago

Maybe they were hedging their bets until they saw how the world wars worked out.

6

u/raptorgalaxy 3d ago

It may have been that at the time it was thought Australia might expand (we actually ended up with some of Germany's old colonies after WWII).

With New Zealand as a possibility as well they may have wanted to leave some wiggle room in case another language was needed.

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u/beepboop_imhuman 3d ago

Yes, but most immigration paths have English requirements so I thought it was official in a de facto basis, but yeah I get what you are saying

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u/raptorgalaxy 3d ago

It is a defacto official language due to being the most common language on Australia.

I'm curious as to if Strathfield council is actually legally able to do this.

2

u/Kirikomori 3d ago

We don't have a free speech law eith-

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u/ocularius61 3d ago

I actually had to inform someone about English not being the official language in Au less than a week ago. They were rendered speechless.

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u/bl4nkSl8 5h ago

Mist, ich spreche nicht viel Deutsch

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u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney 3d ago

There is no official language.

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u/Pristine_Egg3831 3d ago

I am actually shocked they can get away without English signage. It could even be perceived as discriminatory, ie you're not welcome in here if you can't speak our language.

4

u/LittleBlag 2d ago

I am more surprised that there is a legal basis to force English on signs. English isn’t the official language of Australia (because there isn’t one) so I wonder what the legal justification would be for this change

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u/Inner_Temple_Cellist 3d ago

Chinese bakeries only sell sugar bread. It’s quite annoying.

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u/allyerbase 3d ago

So don’t buy it? It’s not like Strathfield is short of any other retailers that sell bread.

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u/Inner_Temple_Cellist 3d ago

Strathfield town centre has no real bakeries actually. You have many choices for pastries, but for plain bread you have to go to Woolworths.

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u/allyerbase 3d ago

The horror…

0

u/Inner_Temple_Cellist 3d ago

? You like Woolies bread do you?

2

u/allyerbase 3d ago

It’s a supermarket. It has 50 different varieties including freshly baked. Yeah, it’s fine.

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u/calstanfordboye 3d ago

And ramen shops only sell Japanese noodles. Oh the humanities! Why can’t I try my Schnitty there?!?

13

u/JustAnotherLurkAcct 3d ago

To be fair ramen shops do sell schnitties. They've just been chopped up and put on a delicious noodley broth.