A study of the attempt by French politicians to use the law to forbid the use of words of English and American origin. Classifies some of these words and lists expressions in current use in America and England which are particularly difficult to render in French, comparing these with some equally untranslatable French turns of speech. The book should interest students of language, history and politics. It shows how some of Gramsci's ideas on the nature of cultural hegemony look in practice.