If memory serves, “courriel” was actually French Canadian (and I actually find it a smart translation). The Académie Française suggested “mél” at the time, which means even less of a thing and only sounds roughly close to “mail”.
I have nothing good to say about the Académie, but, to be fair, “mél” is meant as abbreviation. Like, for business cards or email signatures, where stuff like “Tél.” was written. Still ridiculously bad.
If memory serves, “courriel” was actually French Canadian (and I actually find it a smart translation). The Académie Française suggested “mél” at the time, which means even less of a thing and only sounds roughly close to “mail”.
I have nothing good to say about the Académie, but, to be fair, “mél” is meant as abbreviation. Like, for business cards or email signatures, where stuff like “Tél.” was written. Still ridiculously bad.