Non-English English words

[bearded]

"Lift attendant" might be better. "Lift boy" sounds a bit rude...

Thank you. I had found 'lift-boy' in the WR Dictionary...now I know better.
liftboy - Dizionario inglese-italiano WordReference

 

[merquiades]

Thank you. I had found 'lift-boy' in the WR Dictionary...now I know better.
liftboy - Dizionario inglese-italiano WordReference

Ok, but don't say that to the operator unless he's 14. He might get miffed. And what if it's a woman ?

 

[bearded]

Lift girl, of course . In Italy, ''la lift'' (a rare job for women, though).

 

[Sepia]

In Brazil home office refers to what I would generally call remote work or working from home.

I wonder what I would have to call it in Germany when somebody from the Home Office were working remotely from home.

 

[Circunflejo]

Is home office supposed to mean teletrabajo? I would take home office to mean literally what it says it is.

I see your point. And you are right, it's not the same. However, home office it's not something that I hear here. Something like tengo la oficina en casa is more usual but it's not either something that you hear too much.

 

[Frank78]

I wonder what I would have to call it in Germany when somebody from the Home Office were working remotely from home.

"Der Mitarbeiter des Innenministeriums ist im Homeoffice" ?

 

[Sepia]

"Der Mitarbeiter des Innenministeriums ist im Homeoffice" ?

The logical reply: Yes we know he is with the Home Office - but where is he right now?

As we say in German - Alle Klarheiten beseitigt
Translates approx to: All clarity eliminated.

 

[JClaudeK]

In the context of this current pandemic, I find French people are using home office to mean télétravail.

Especially in this context, everybody uses "télétravail".
Never heard "home office" in any media or elsewhere in France.

In Germany, they use "Homeoffice" for working at home.

 

[L'irlandais]

Well perhaps Dreyeckland/Alsace region differs from the capital, in that we have tens of thousands of crossborder-workers who work in Switzerland and Germany. A healthy cross contamination in the misuse of English?
It seems to me télétravail is being misused in French too, as in the context of the pandemic most of the distant working is on an informal basis. Whereas télétravail refers to a contractual arrangement.
The link in my earlier post #195 has a nice graphic showing this nuance:

Le télétravail est donc à distinguer du travail à distance « occasionnel », souvent appelé « home office », « mobile working » ou encore « work-from-home » (voir notre infographie). Ce dernier est envisagé par les entreprises comme une souplesse offerte à leurs salariés qui peuvent ainsi prendre de manière ponctuelle une ou deux journées « mobiles » par mois pour travailler depuis leur domicile – par exemple parce qu’ils attendent le passage du plombier ou parce qu’ils ont besoin de se concentrer pour un travail de rédaction.

Ou je me trompe.

 

[JClaudeK]

Well perhaps Dreyeckland/Alsace region differs from the capital, in that we have tens of thousands of crossborder-workers who work in Switzerland and Germany. A healthy cross contamination in the misuse of English?

I think so.

Le télétravail est une activité professionnelle effectuée en tout ou partie à distance du lieu où le résultat du travail est attendu. Il s'oppose au travail sur site, à savoir le travail effectué dans les locaux de son employeur.
Concernant les salariés, le ministère de l'Économie français définit le télétravail comme « une forme d'organisation du travail dans laquelle un travail qui aurait également pu être exécuté dans les locaux de l'employeur est effectué par un salarié hors de ces locaux de façon volontaire »
Wikipedia

When you look up "homeoffice" on Wikipedia, you are redirected to télétravail.

 

[Mick]

Italian has adopted a fake anglicism to refer to work from home, which is smart working. I think no other non-English speaking country uses it (let alone English-speaking countries).

If you can read Italian, here's an interesting article on why the expression makes little or no sense: Terminologia etc. » » Lavorare da casa non è smart working!

"Smart working" is indeed the expression used here in Italy for what we'd call working from home (I came on here to check that was the case, having lived here so long I was starting to doubt whether perhaps it was being used elsewhere). Another common expression that Italians are horrified to learn isn't typically used by mother-tongue English speakers is "open space [office]" whereas "open plan office" is the accepted term in English.

 

[bearded]

that Italians are horrified to learn

What about the ''Recovery Fund'' (often pronounced recovery found ), as we call the Next Generation-EU fund?
And the economic plan to be submitted to EU Authorities in order to obtain the fund, called ''Recovery Plan'' here?
Do mother-tongue Engl. speakers ever use those terms?

 

[Sepia]

"Smart working" is indeed the expression used here in Italy for what we'd call working from home (I came on here to check that was the case, having lived here so long I was starting to doubt whether perhaps it was being used elsewhere). Another common expression that Italians are horrified to learn isn't typically used by mother-tongue English speakers is "open space [office]" whereas "open plan office" is the accepted term in English.

Despite the general term "open plan office", "open space" IS a term generally used in architecture, and also for the layout of offices.

 

[Awwal12]

An example of a real pseudo-Anglicism in Russian is фейс-контроль (féys-kontról', i.e., *face control, although контроль is actually a Gallicism in Russian). It also should be noted that the practical usage of the word in Russian is prone to semantic expansion - for example, people may use it to describe passport control in international airports.

 

[Nanon]

In France, when you get a CT-scan, you get the machine itself (un scanner).

 

[sound shift]

An example of a real pseudo-Anglicism in Russian is фейс-контроль (féys-kontról', i.e., *face control, although контроль is actually a Gallicism in Russian).

I've come across it in a Russian video. I'm going to have to cancel my trip to Sochi. I wouldn't get past face control at any of its night spots.

 

[Awwal12]

I wouldn't get past face control at any of its night spots.

Hard to say, I'm not a big fan of those activities whatsoever.

By the way, I doubt the explanation of the phrase in the article is correct. «Kontról'» isn't fully equivalent to English «control», and here it must rather mean «check», i.e. checking visitors' faces at the entrance (the explanation through the idea of "keeping the face of the establishment" seems too deep).

 

[Frank78]

It also should be noted that the practical usage of the word in Russian is prone to semantic expansion - for example, people may use it to describe passport control in international airports.

The question is rather why is it "passport control" in English?

I don't see any difference between checking one's face and one's passport.

 

[Welsh_Sion]

Apparently during this pandemic, Le Monde at one stage referred to 'le health' (Beurk !)

Mind you, it can work other ways. The Guardian reported once that owing to the virus Parisian libraries were closing and people couldn't take the books they had borrowed back ...

Ho, hum.

 

[DearPrudence]

They were referring to the " Health Data Hub", right? Just not "health" on its own.

 

[Nanon]

They were referring to the " Health Data Hub", right? Just not "health" on its own.

Yep, a perfect name, fit for a start-up nation... En français dans le texte : Health data hub | Plateforme Des Données De Santé | France
I still agree with Welsh_Sion: beurk !

 

[Welsh_Sion]

Good article on this in the latest Linguist magazine. Le care, les ventilateurs, le contact tracing, tester (vb.) etc etc. all get a mention in the French Press apparently.

Aux armes, citoyens - pour votre langue !

 

[Nicomon]

When you look up "homeoffice" on Wikipedia, you are redirected to télétravail.

I don't agree. There are other meanings, but If I hear home office in a work context, I immediately think this :

Terme bureau à domicile
recommandé officiellement par la Commission d'enrichissement de la langue française (France)

Source : bureau à domicile

See also (the English section is at the bottom) : télétravail and travail à domicile

The English side of the page from Wikipedia that you quoted is Telecommuting and the opening line is this : "

"Work from home" redirects here. For other uses, see Work from Home (disambiguation).

 

[Nanon]

Ooops... 2006! France Terme needs a refresh . We mostly hear télétravail here.

tester (vb.) [...] get(s) a mention in the French press apparently.

Certainly an Anglicism, but a 70-80-year-old one, so it is a bit late for that fight now. See TESTER : Définition de TESTER (2).

 

[JClaudeK]

We mostly hear télétravail here.

Quelques titres de la presse française d’aujourd’hui: :

• Covid : le gouvernement pousse au télétravail « au maximum » (Les Echos)
• Covid-19: Le télétravail peut-il être rendu obligatoire par le gouvernement? (Huffingtonpost)
• Télétravail: Pourquoi ça coince (Ladépeche)
• ...............

 

[Nicomon]

I misunderstood and never realised that some people say « Home Office » in French.
After writing my previous post - intented of course for a Quebec / Canadian context - I came across this article :

Télétravail vs. Home Office : quelles différences, quelles conséquences ?

@ Nanon et JClaudeK : Télétravail is very currently used in Quebec as well. I simply wouldn't translate it as Home office.
To me, it's as simple as this :

home office = bureau à domicile
telework(ing) / remote work(ing) = télétravail / travail à distance

Dans le terme télétravail, qui s'écrit en un seul mot, l'élément télé- signifie « au loin, à distance ».

working from home / WFH / home working = travail à domicile

 

[Nanon]

Nico, we mostly use télétravail and travail à domicile. Bureau à domicile is often used for the physical space, furniture, etc.

Télétravail is used when you work from home or from a coworking space, performing the same tasks that you would perform from the office.

I.- [...] le télétravail désigne toute forme d'organisation du travail dans laquelle un travail qui aurait également pu être exécuté dans les locaux de l'employeur est effectué par un salarié hors de ces locaux de façon volontaire en utilisant les technologies de l'information et de la communication. Code du travail - Article L1222-9

I had a boss who was fluent in Franglais. He used to say : « Demain, je me mets en home office ». Aaargh.

Travail à domicile is used when you work exclusively from home and you do not need to go to a workplace.

Est travailleur à domicile toute personne qui :
1° Exécute, moyennant une rémunération forfaitaire, pour le compte d'un ou plusieurs établissements, un travail qui lui est confié soit directement, soit par un intermédiaire [...] - Code du travail - Article L7412-1

 

[Welsh_Sion]

On a more personal note, I've always been surprised by French people (well ... Parisians, mostly) saying to me that, "Tu parles le welsh, hein ?" (That's assuming they know le gallois n'est pas une dialecte de l'anglais ... I've even seen it in print. The sure as heck aren't trying to impress me by using that term in their language - and I've often been known to retort back that, "C'est n'est pas le welsh, c'est le gallois" and then I get funny looks.

Why?

(Now, if I said Cymraeg, outside my Breton cousins, they'd be even more surprised).

 

[Nicomon]

Bureau à domicile is often used for the physical space, furniture, etc.

Same here. And this is how I would define Home office. You might do telework from a home office.

This is from Ikea - not to name them :

Home office gallery
In our home office gallery, you can browse combinations of storage, lighting, chairs, desks and more. There are lots of different styles and sizes – and all at affordable prices.

Galerie de bureaux à domicile
Dans notre galerie de bureaux à domicile, vous pouvez découvrir des agencements de rangement, d’éclairage, de chaises, de bureaux et plus encore. Vous trouverez une foule de styles et de tailles, tous à des prix abordables.

We have similar definitions of Télétravail and Travail à domicile. For anyone interested, there is this bilingual vocabulary :

French : Vocabulaire de l'enseignement à distance et du télétravail
English : Vocabulary on distance teaching and telework

Télétravail

Définitions	Activité professionnelle qui s'exerce en dehors des bureaux de l'employeur au moyen de technologies de l'information et de la télécommunication.	A professional activity performed outside the employer's offices by means of information and telecommunication technologies.

Travail à domicile

Définitions	Activité professionnelle qui s'exerce dans le lieu de résidence du travailleur.	A professional activity carried out in the worker's home.
Notes	Les personnes qui font un travail à domicile peuvent être des télétravailleurs ou des travailleurs autonomes.	People who work from home include teleworkers and self-employed workers.