Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
l'internaute
English translation:
Surfer
Added to glossary by
Rachel Davenport
Jul 24, 2005 07:42
18 yrs ago
7 viewers *
French term
Top-quality, accurate, translations
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, German to English, Yiddish to English, and 1 more.
l'internaute
French to English
Marketing
Internet, e-Commerce
Regulations governing Internet advertising of medications in France
From the context (see previous question) this word clearly means someone who is navigating a web site, but what does one call such a person in English?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +6 | surfer |
Rachel Davenport
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| 3 +9 | Internet User |
French2English
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| 4 | Internet surfer, web surfer |
Peter Racher
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Proposed translations
+6
15 mins
Selected
surfer
I'm not sure whether this is not a bit colloquial though ...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Michele Fauble
: 'web-surfer' or 'websurfer'
4 mins
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Thanks Michele!
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| agree |
Tony M
: 'surfer' alone is fine --- and I don't think it's too colloquial, it seems to be almost universal
18 mins
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Thanks Dusty!
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| agree |
MurielP (X)
21 mins
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Thanks Muriel!
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| agree |
Vicky Papaprodromou
1 hr
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Thanks Vicky!
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| agree |
Nick Lingris
: I'd love to see Internaut catch on in English, but websurfer will have to do for the time being.
3 hrs
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Yes, the French pinch so many of our words. Why shouldn't we pinch theirs! Thanks.
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| agree |
Aisha Maniar
3 hrs
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Thanks Aisha!
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| neutral |
Charlie Bavington
: I share your own reservations about it being possibly a mite too informal for a text on govt regulations.
9 hrs
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As Dusty pointed out, some of us have not seen the previous question and I didn't know it was a govt document. Even in this context I think it is appropriate.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+9
2 hrs
French2English
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
BA(Hons), Dip Trans IOL, MCIL London
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, English
Internet User
Why not simply an 'Internet User' - after all, that is what they are literally doing. 'Surfer' - although very common and popular, is IMO simply a buzzword to make it sound cool!
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
sujata
8 mins
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Thanks sujata
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| agree |
cmwilliams (X)
: Depends on context. I think this would be appropriate in a formal context, which this appears to be.
12 mins
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Thanks cmw. Indeed - it seemed fairly formal to me too. Thanks.
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| agree |
Kalyani Menon
3 hrs
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Thanks Kalyani
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| agree |
RHELLER
: sounds like a pretty conservative text - or, eventually, browser
4 hrs
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Thanks Rita
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| agree |
Charlie Bavington
: Yep, for a formal text, this is what I use.
7 hrs
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Thanks Charlie. Hope you never use 'yep' in a formal text though :))
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| agree |
sporran
8 hrs
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Thanks, Sporran - and great name!
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| agree |
Philippe Maillard
10 hrs
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Tn
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| agree |
Marianne van Lunter
: Mêmes arguments que ceux de Charlie.
11 hrs
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Thanks Philippe (above) and Marianne
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| agree |
ACOZ (X)
12 hrs
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846 days
Peter Racher
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Experienced technical translator.
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, and 1 more.
Internet surfer, web surfer
In the context of a patent simply "surfer" would not be sufficient. The "Internet" part would be required.
Outside of this context, since the World Wide Web has become almost synonymous with the Internet, "web surfer" would be preferable and less ambiguous than just "surfer".
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Note added at 846 days (2007-11-17 12:06:57 GMT) Post-grading
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See also this web page for the origins of the English equivalent phrase:
http://www.netmom.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=d...
Outside of this context, since the World Wide Web has become almost synonymous with the Internet, "web surfer" would be preferable and less ambiguous than just "surfer".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 846 days (2007-11-17 12:06:57 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
See also this web page for the origins of the English equivalent phrase:
http://www.netmom.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=d...
Example sentence:
Un contexte d'application représentatif est celui où un internaute se connecte, au moyen d'un navigateur web...
A representative application context is that where an Internet surfer is connected by means of a web browser...
Discussion