Apr 27, 2008 18:02
16 yrs ago
French term
social (in this contect)
French to English
Bus/Financial
Business/Commerce (general)
Just when I was breathing a sigh of relief over my previous question (q.v), I came across this beauty :
"Accompagnement ***social*** dans le respect de l’environnement réglementaire"
I'm sorely tempted to translate this by "we will go to cocktail parties with you, as laid down by the regulations", but I probably wouldn't keep my client (but do I want to ...?).
I'm not sure whether "social" in this context means "social security"' or "corporate".
Pour mémoire, this is from a financial services company web-site.
Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
"Accompagnement ***social*** dans le respect de l’environnement réglementaire"
I'm sorely tempted to translate this by "we will go to cocktail parties with you, as laid down by the regulations", but I probably wouldn't keep my client (but do I want to ...?).
I'm not sure whether "social" in this context means "social security"' or "corporate".
Pour mémoire, this is from a financial services company web-site.
Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
Proposed translations
(English)
1 | "company" support or "social" support | Shilpa Dawda |
3 | union support [as in labor unions] | Blake Ferris |
2 | see explanation | Pauline Teale |
Proposed translations
11 mins
Selected
"company" support or "social" support
Hi this is just a guess. I need more information.
Note from asker:
More information : this is a web site promoting the consulting skills of a financial services company. "accompagnement" in their usual sense means "assistance" or consulting" but in this phrase it seems to me to be ambiguous. The phrase appears in a section headed "Savoirs faire spécifiques". |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I almost closed without graidng - and then realised that your second alternative was just what my client said - so congratulations - a good guess, finally !
"
10 mins
see explanation
Support with human resources/labour issues?
4 hrs
union support [as in labor unions]
In a French business context, in any corporate (in the French sense) endeavor, the labor have a lot of power. While on the left generally, they tend to be traditionalist, and Environmental stuff might seem weird to them (the unions in France did not alway go for the programs of "les Verts" from both sides of the aisle, thus it is an "atout" that the initiative is receiving union support.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2008-04-28 01:09:33 GMT)
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No you are absolutely right-- it was a dumb hair-trigger answer. Embarrassed. "Environment reglementaire" is the regulatory environment, or the current state of regulations that companies must comply with, and my guess at "accompagnement social" means some kind of government-mandated benefits for workers, like pensions, job stability or insurance. Given the brief context, I'd say as a second guess that it means the employee benefits companies have to shoulder in the current regulatory environment. As far as "social security" or "corporate" being a translation of "social", my feeling is that "social" is much more general here, though the notion of social benefits is true--and if there is any "corporatisme" involved, is has nothing to do with a business, but with a workers group or association. I cannot recall the adjective "social" ever being used to describe something on the side of the private sector.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2008-04-28 01:12:55 GMT)
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BTW, the old French corporatisme is still alive, and unions still are players in whats left of the old model of the French economy as a "rapport des forces", and occupy different positions in politics. Look at centrist unions like the CFDT, for example, which supported the Juppé reforms. Sorry I talk too much.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2008-04-28 01:09:33 GMT)
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No you are absolutely right-- it was a dumb hair-trigger answer. Embarrassed. "Environment reglementaire" is the regulatory environment, or the current state of regulations that companies must comply with, and my guess at "accompagnement social" means some kind of government-mandated benefits for workers, like pensions, job stability or insurance. Given the brief context, I'd say as a second guess that it means the employee benefits companies have to shoulder in the current regulatory environment. As far as "social security" or "corporate" being a translation of "social", my feeling is that "social" is much more general here, though the notion of social benefits is true--and if there is any "corporatisme" involved, is has nothing to do with a business, but with a workers group or association. I cannot recall the adjective "social" ever being used to describe something on the side of the private sector.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2008-04-28 01:12:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
BTW, the old French corporatisme is still alive, and unions still are players in whats left of the old model of the French economy as a "rapport des forces", and occupy different positions in politics. Look at centrist unions like the CFDT, for example, which supported the Juppé reforms. Sorry I talk too much.
Note from asker:
Thank you for your suggestion, Blake, but I'm sorry, this is off-target. We are not talking trade unions here, nor environmental problems. I really don't see how a financial services company is going to offer "union support" to its clients. The question of how much power French unions have is another debate, but except in key industries they are not an issue. Only a very small percentage of French workers are "unionised". |
N oneed to feel embarrassment, Blake : I think you second answer was very close to what I was looking for - but finally I managed to get a response from my client (see above) ! |
Discussion
This is a web-site mostly composed of pages with similar layouts, destined for various target sectors, and using similar phraseology (naturally enough) to promote the services. "Accompagnement" crops up frequently, and usually the meaning is clear enough, as "assistance" or "support" but here I'm not sure what is intended.