## [From book crossing to wikis](/favourite-articles/from-book-crossing-to-wikis) ## Avertissement Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement. Barbara McClintock (*Language Update*, Volume 6, Number 4, 2009, page 35) ## Read a good book lately? Pass it on. *Book crossing*, called *livre voyageur*, *libérez un livre* or *passe-livre* in French[Footnote 1](#fn1), is the practice of leaving books in a public place to be picked up by others, who might not otherwise have access to the books, to encourage them to read. According to Wikipedia, the term is derived from bookcrossing.com, a free online book club that makes it possible to register books and trace their paths. The popularity of book crossing has grown, spawning blogs, forum discussions and annual conventions throughout the world. ## Flashmobs and carrotmobs You may have heard of flashmobs (*TERMIUM Plus®*: *foule éclair* or *rassemblement éclair*): large groups of people who communicate on the Internet to organize mostly silly events in public places. A flashmob paid homage to Michael Jackson by dancing to his music at Montréal’s Place des Arts in August this year. *Harper’s Magazine* editor Bill Wasik came up with the flashmob concept.[Footnote 2](#fn2) Flashmobs are intended to be apolitical, unlike carrotmobs,[Footnote 3](#fn3) a term coined last year by Californian environmentalist Brent Schulkin, who also founded a website, carrotmob.org. *Carrotmobbers*[Footnote 4](#fn4) shop at a small business in large numbers, or a mob, all on the same day. The organizers usually ask the business to invest a proportion of the day’s receipts in energy-efficient improvements. For example, a restaurant owner may install a greener heating system and switch to recyclable containers for takeout food and paper cups instead of expanded polystyrene coffee cups. The idea is to use a carrot rather than a stick to encourage environmentally friendly behaviour. This form of social activism is sometimes referred to as *green shopping* or a *buycott*.[Footnote 5](#fn5)*Carrotmobbing (événement écoresponsable or rassemblement de consommateurs écoresponsables*[Footnote 6](#fn6)) takes the flashmob concept one step further. Like a flashmob, people are mobilized on the Internet, but they use their consumer power to make socially beneficial choices. ## The “in crowd” Jeff Howe, contributing editor to *Wired* magazine, coined the term *crowdsourcing* in 2006, referring to a “new pool of cheap labour.”[Footnote 7](#fn7) The idea is that ordinary people use their spare time to work with companies to create content, do research, etc., sometimes for free. This past summer, two British newspapers, *The Guardian* and *The Telegraph*, launched a new *crowd-sourced* experiment, “Investigate Your MP’s Expenses,” and asked the public for help in reading thousands of expense reports and related documents posted on their respective websites.[Footnote 8](#fn8) ## Robbing Peter to pay Paul The headlines are screaming “Bernard Madoff accused of *Ponzi scheme*.” Ponzi schemes are a type of illegal pyramid operation named for Charles Ponzi, an Italian-born swindler, who duped thousands into investing in a postage stamp speculation scheme in the U.S. in the 1920s.[Footnote 9](#fn9) I suspect that the term *Ponzi* is used when there are only one or two main perpetrators. A *pyramid scheme* or *opération pyramidale*,[Footnote 10](#fn10) on the other hand, is a bigger operation in which recruited investors must then recruit others in order to be paid, and the last members recruited are left holding the (empty) bag. The highly respected *Le Monde* newspaper recently published an article that referred to a “Ponzi scheme” as a *schéma de Ponzi*.[Footnote 11](#fn11) The term *schéma de Ponzi* has been criticized because *schéma* in French does not correspond to *scheme* in English—a deceitful plan or plot. Madoff’s scheme was to pay investors with money invested by new clients. It went undisclosed until the 2008 stock market crash, when too many of his clients tried to withdraw their funds. *TERMIUM Plus®* provides a synonym, *Ponzi game*, of which the French translation is *combine à la Ponzi*. Wikipedia uses *chaîne de Ponzi* in French.[Footnote 12](#fn12) ## What’s up with wikis? *Wiki*[Footnote 13](#fn13) is a term generally used to describe a website that uses wiki software with interlinked pages that can be easily created and edited by visitors. For example, a translation business could support one or more wikis containing information to be shared by all the affiliated translators, such as style sheets for particular clients, specialized glossaries and lists of client preferences. For more information, see *[Tech Files](http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/favart/index-fra.html?lang=fra&lettr=indx_autr8o7vhUcC4c0s&page=9CBYJeRSGhMk.html#zz8o7vhUcC4c0s)* by André Guyon in the September 2009 issue of *Language Update*. ## Notes Footnote 1[BookCrossing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BookCrossing). [Return to footnote 1 referrer](#fn1-rf) Footnote 2[Flash mob](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob). [Return to footnote 2 referrer](#fn2-rf) Footnote 3[CarrotMobbing](http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/18/activists.carrotmobbing). [Return to footnote 3 referrer](#fn3-rf) Footnote 4[carrotmob](http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/carrotmob.html). [Return to footnote 4 referrer](#fn4-rf) Footnote 5[Buycott](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buycott). [Return to footnote 5 referrer](#fn5-rf) Footnote 6Proposals by the Translation Bureau’s SVP Services. [Return to footnote 6 referrer](#fn6-rf) Footnote 7“Dirt Cheap Labour” by Stephanie Findlay, *Maclean’s*, Aug. 24, 2009, p. 34. [Return to footnote 7 referrer](#fn7-rf) Footnote 8[Let the expenses data war commence telegraph begins its document drip feed/](http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/2009/06/19/let-the-expenses-data-war-commence-telegraph-begins-its-document-drip-feed/). [Return to footnote 8 referrer](#fn8-rf) Footnote 9[Ponzi Schemes](http://www.sec.gov/answers/ponzi.htm). [Return to footnote 9 referrer](#fn9-rf) Footnote 10*TERMIUM Plus®*. [Return to footnote 10 referrer](#fn10-rf) Footnote 11Charles Ponzi maître à rouler de Madoff, by Yves Mamou, June 13, 2009. (This article is no longer available.) [Return to footnote 11 referrer](#fn11-rf) Footnote 12[Chaîne de Ponzi](http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaîne_de_Ponzi). [Return to footnote 12 referrer](#fn12-rf) Footnote 13[Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikis). [Return to footnote 13 referrer](#fn13-rf) ## Avis de droit d’auteur pour l’outil Favourite Articles © Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada, représenté par le ou la ministre des Services publics et de l’Approvisionnement Un outil créé et mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada ## Rechercher par thèmes connexes Vous voulez en apprendre davantage sur un thème abordé dans cette page? Cliquez sur un lien ci-dessous pour voir toutes les pages du Portail linguistique du Canada portant sur le thème choisi. 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