The French language as it evolves:

Answers to the questions about the animation:

1. le web OR la toile?
   For new concepts, French can either coin words from the existing French language ('la toile' is a spider's web, so can apply equally to the worldwide web) or simply borrow from English. The use of 'franglais' has been a source of hot debate for half a century. Whatever purists feel, international youth culture finds franglais 'très cool', and all attempts to impose 'la fin de la semaine' have failed to prevent most French speakers wishing each other 'bon weekend!' Some recent examples of 'franglais' that I've spotted include 'le scrapbooking', 'le piercing' and 'un mailing' (for an email group list).
2. Madame le OR la Ministre?
   With almost all traditionally male professions and jobs now open to women, the French language and official protocol struggle to reconcile grammatical gender with changing social reality. If a government minister is 'le ministre', how does one address a woman holding such a post? In practice, usage still fluctuates. And whereas the informal contracted form 'prof' can be used with either the masculine or feminine article ('le prof' or 'la prof'), it's not uncommon to find the formal designation 'Madame le professeur X'. A TV new item some years ago reported that when a woman took over postal deliveries, the local villagers were unsure whether to refer to 'le facteur' or 'la factrice'....
3. des algues bleu-vert
   In this case, the rule is clear: compound adjectives (such as 'bleu-vert' or 'bleu foncé') are invariable. This is because they are assumed to be derived (elliptically) from '[d'un] bleu-vert'. And if you'd like to know more about these interestingly coloured seaweeds, have a look at a website of the Quebec government
4. Vélib.....ataires
   Items of franglais are not the only neologisms which help the French language to keep pace with modern reality. The language lends itself readily to coining new words. Take the introduction of the popular rent-a-bike scheme in Paris in 2007, called Vélib, a play on 'vélo' and 'libre' (free). It gave rise to new opportunities for making friends, especially among those in search of a partner, hence the noun 'vélibataire' (to rhyme with 'célilbataire', single or unattached).
5. ma teuf OR votre fête?
   Slang ('argot' in French) changes quite fast, and can mark different age-groups as well as social groups. The particular Parisian 'argot' known as 'verlan' relies on reversing the syllables of a word. So, for example, 'fe-mme' becomes 'meu-f', and 'verlan' is 'l'envers' (backwards) in reverse. Some words of 'verlan' have now crossed into everyday slang, so students would talk about a teuf' where their grandparents would still call it a 'fête'.

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