STM puts the ‘Go’ back in Go Habs Go
Montreal’s transit agency says it’s putting the word ‘Go’ back on buses in electronic messages of support for the Montreal Canadians.
“In the coming weeks, the Société de transport de Montréal will reintroduce the word ‘Go’ on bus-line indicators,” the transit agency said in a press release Thursday morning.
“It should be noted that the Office québécois de la langue française has validated the use of the word Go as an encouragement in the
Grand dictionnaire terminologique
.”
The decision comes 10 months after
The Gazette reported
that the STM had removed the word in response to a language complaint.
The OQLF, Quebec’s language watchdog, had told the transit agency to stop displaying messages like “GO! Canadiens GO!” on electronic displays on buses because Go is an English word.
As a result, STM instead featured “Allez! Canadiens Allez!” on its buses.
In response to an
uproar over the change
, French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge
backed the use of the “Go Habs Go”
as “an expression that’s part of our DNA, our identity.”
The OQLF eventually backed down.
This story will be updated.