Président? C'est plus qu'un marque du beurre!

Original thread: https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/11/topics/9535
Moved to Aldershot for obvious reasons…

[ avant que tu lise ce message, sache bien la concepte du “sarcasme”, d’accord? ]

Rick, in my country, people do not use their job title to boast

Don’t forget, Xavier, I’m in your country! :-)

From my experience, it’s not so much a particular job title as whether you are nobody (a “salarie”) or somebody (“encadrement”). Job titles and positions are not used to boast, they are used to segregate. Little people with blue charlottes do not interact with the bigger people who don’t need to wear charlottes, and the ones in between (green charlottes) tend to minimise interaction with us (preferring endless renunions) until something goes wrong in which case it is totally our fault… Same old story…

And out in the country, there is a big difference between a “farmer” that rents his land versus a “farmer” that owns his land. Indeed, French has numerous words that carry social status implications – fermier, ouvrier, éleveur, agriculteur, exploitant, and several I don’t remember.
I put “farmer” in quotes as to a townie from Britain, a bloke in a tractor is a farmer whether he has a hundred head of cattle or five thousand hectares of premium cannabis. It’s a bloke in a tractor…

There is no translation for ‘président’,

As I pointed out before, it seems to be a word more used in America (from the President of the US down to Student Council President at high school). It isn’t a word used much in the UK. For instance, it is well known that ex-Prime Ministers (roughly equal in status to the French Président, the Queen has no official political powers) are shuffled off to nice cozy jobs once they retire. We would refer to that as a cushy “directorship”, as calling it a “presidency” might imply the question “of where?”, as if he’s gone to run Nicaragua or something.

I’m not exactly sure what the exact difference is between SA / SARL / SAS / SASU (etc); however in British English the phrase you would probably want is “Company Director” if you are being straightforward, or “Chief Executive Officer” if you are being silly…

It’s American companies that used to have Presidents and Vice Presidents (Veeps), but then political correctness came along and they became “CEOs” and the “Chair” and other such names.

Still, that’s better than Britain where it seems nobody knows any more (or is allowed to know) the difference between boys and girls. Maybe in a generation British companies will also name their senior people after articles of furniture?

I know what I am worth, and I have already proven it.

I have neither proven nor even remotely care. I know, short of winning the lottery, that I won’t be commanding millions. That’s okay. I can’t really justify a TV presenter or sports player being paid sums orders of magnitude more than a nurse makes… Money doesn’t imply happiness, and a person’s heart is not measured by how many digits are in their bank account.

I have to play this stupid game because it is how society is set up and I’m not quite antisocial enough to go live in a yurt in the Himalayas. But as much as possible, I wish to remain an NPC.

BTW, félicitations pour faire ton rétraite à l’âge de 38! :-)

There is no translation for ‘président’, official title of running an SAS or an SASU.

Technically, président is – almost – CEO and directeur général – almost – CTO. In French companies, it’s often the same guy. Nota: président is not (always) similar to president (as president of the board, seen in USA).

It’s American companies that used to have Presidents and Vice Presidents (Veeps), but then political correctness came along and they became “CEOs” and the “Chair” and other such names.

At my place of employment in NZ we have a Chief Executive and a Chairman and a Director. You do not want to see our organisational chart :)

For pomposity and splendour of titles, and for complexity of bureaucracy nothing comes anywhere near the Byzantine Empire. See Wikipedia on Byzantine bureaucracy and aristocracy.

When I made the website for the 2006 International Congress of Byzantine Studies, I was told that the organizing committee had appointed me Guardian of the Imperial Inkstand. Well what they actually said was epi tou kanikleiou : the inkstand was in the likeness of a little dog. CEOs, Managing Directors, Presidents – pfui!

I was told that the organizing committee had appointed me Guardian of the Imperial Inkstand.

I hope that you didn’t blot your copybook!

That’s by “Byzantine” is a word that means “excessively complicated”, usually implying piles and piles of paperwork.

Funny, I think I now know where the CAF and the Sécu get their ideas…!