Cultural Significance
Here in Quebec, there is a law called Law 101. This law is meant to protect the French language form the evils of the English language. Among many restrictions and by-laws (language in the workplace, on television, etc.), one of the most visible aspects of the law is the rule that states that French on signs has to be twice a big as English. The Office de la Langue Francaise actually has "inspectors" that go around and verify this. Needless to say that this restriction pissed off a lot of business owners who already had biligual signs where both languages were of equal size. There were some exceptions such as political advertisements. This led to this bizarre arrangement:
This sign appears to be illegal (the French words are not twice as big as the English ones)
But look closer:
Strangely, Eaton's had to drop the " 's " from it's name to comply but McDonald's did not... A case where money talks? Probably.
Here in Quebec, there is a law called Law 101. This law is meant to protect the French language form the evils of the English language. Among many restrictions and by-laws (language in the workplace, on television, etc.), one of the most visible aspects of the law is the rule that states that French on signs has to be twice a big as English. The Office de la Langue Francaise actually has "inspectors" that go around and verify this. Needless to say that this restriction pissed off a lot of business owners who already had biligual signs where both languages were of equal size. There were some exceptions such as political advertisements. This led to this bizarre arrangement:
This sign appears to be illegal (the French words are not twice as big as the English ones)
But look closer:
Strangely, Eaton's had to drop the " 's " from it's name to comply but McDonald's did not... A case where money talks? Probably.
