N+1/n-1

[bitchubitchi]

I know this subject has already been discussed on this forum, but something tells me that N+1 or N-1 might exist in English although it might not be as widely used as in French and in France. It expresses the hierarchical level from one's own point of view: I will then name my direct superior,"N+1", and the person under me "N-1".I am aware that we may overfocus on hierarchy in France, but as it is a "mathematical" way of speaking,I suppose there is an equivalent in English?

 

[wildan1]

I have never heard such terms in AE.

Your superior (" n+1 ") is called your direct supervisor (i.e., boss)

People who are " n-1 " to you are called your direct reports (if you are their supervisor)

 

[bitchubitchi]

Many thanks wildan!
And one more thing, how do you call the staff who is, let's say, 2 levels above you, or under you, then 3 levels...Is there a particular way or do you just call these people by their job title?

 

[Khandoma]

When I was working for a major US software company, in the US, we currently used N+1, N-1 (in English). Also +2, etc. It was and still is used commonly through the US software industry.
On the other hand, such terms are totally unknown in the US television industry. You would indeed designate people by their job title.

 

[Keith Bradford]

I've never seen numbers used this way in Britain.

 

[Malcius]

Does "N" stand for "niveau"?

In which case, if we were going to use something similar in English, would it be L+1, L+2, etc.?

Does anyone have any experience of this existing?

Could the phrase "si le formulaire n’a pas encore été validé par le valideur N+1, vous pouvez..." be translated as anything other than "if the form has not yet been validated by the L+1 validator, you can..." without sounding clunky.

My best alternative:

"if the form has not yet been validated by a higher-ranked validator, you can..."​

but 'higher-ranked' sounds rather military and does not necessarily imply your immediate superior

 

[Kecha]

I'm not sure it is "niveau", rather "nombre" as it is a mathematical way of expressing the hierarchy...

For a long time I heard it as "M+1" and thought it was "manager" ^_^