Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
Monsieur Courtois
English translation:
Mr...Blank
Added to glossary by
Lauren UK
Aug 12, 2008 16:56
15 yrs ago
French term
Monsieur Courtois
French to English
Law/Patents
Names (personal, company)
This is the name of one party to a consultancy agreement.
However, the agreement is only a draft, and I'm wondering if "Monsieur Courtois" is actually a real person, given that the address, etc. are all left blank and that the agreement still contains comments about the drafting.
Is this some kind of French version for Joe Bloggs or similar?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Lauren
However, the agreement is only a draft, and I'm wondering if "Monsieur Courtois" is actually a real person, given that the address, etc. are all left blank and that the agreement still contains comments about the drafting.
Is this some kind of French version for Joe Bloggs or similar?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Lauren
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | Mr...Blank |
Jack Dunwell
|
| 3 +2 | Mr. Smith |
MatthewLaSon
|
| 2 +2 | John Doe / John Smith |
Sébastien Ricciardi
|
Change log
Aug 12, 2008 17:16: writeaway changed "Field (specific)" from "Law: Contract(s)" to "Names (personal, company)"
Proposed translations
1 day 1 hr
Selected
Mr...Blank
Name to be put in later
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you all so much for your help.
Best wishes,
Lauren"
+2
1 hr
Sébastien Ricciardi
France
France
Native in French
France
Engineer w/ Physics MSc & Sports addict
Native in: French 
Works in: English to French, Swedish to French
John Doe / John Smith
Literally "courteous man"
I cannot guarantee it , but I tend to agree with you.
Maybe the author was influenced by this book (ref 1).
A similar use (3rd link in ref 2) : je suis une jeune femme black de 24 ans et je propose massage a homme courtois mon tel 0679749574. Répondre à cette annonce gratuite de Kijiji.fr Paris.
I cannot guarantee it , but I tend to agree with you.
Maybe the author was influenced by this book (ref 1).
A similar use (3rd link in ref 2) : je suis une jeune femme black de 24 ans et je propose massage a homme courtois mon tel 0679749574. Répondre à cette annonce gratuite de Kijiji.fr Paris.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Mohamed Mehenoun
1 min
|
|
thank you
|
|
| neutral |
Martin Cassell
: I'm really not sure that the sentence you quote is appropriate to the context! // in terms of respectability, that is.
4 mins
|
|
you are right, it is not exactly the same context but shows a use of the term is the sense : "whoever"
|
|
| agree |
MatthewLaSon
: On ne va pas écrire "John Doe" sur cette ligne. "John Doe" est normalement employé dans les cas où l'identité d'une vraie personne demeure inconnue (dans un constat de décès, par exemple). "Mr. Smith", par contre, ne sert que de faux nom tout simplement.
4 hrs
|
|
Thanks Matthew, I have to say that I dont really know the difference between John Doe & John Smith
|
|
| neutral |
narasimha (X)
: I agree with Martin in this regard
10 hrs
|
|
you are right, it is not exactly the same context but shows a use of the term is the sense : "whoever"
|
+2
5 hrs
Mr. Smith
Hello,
It's just a more refined name used for a fake person. It's like saying "Mr Smith", which just evokes thoughts of a more typically refined person in the English-speaking world (well, not really LOL). So them "Curtois" is the equivalent in France as it brings up notions of prestige and refinement.
You get the point here? I hope I'm making a little bit of sense.
French: nickname for a refined person, sometimes no doubt applied ironically, from Old French curteis, co(curtois ‘refined’, ‘accomplished')
http://ancestrylibrary.com/facts/Courtois-family-history.ash...
I hope this helps.
It's just a more refined name used for a fake person. It's like saying "Mr Smith", which just evokes thoughts of a more typically refined person in the English-speaking world (well, not really LOL). So them "Curtois" is the equivalent in France as it brings up notions of prestige and refinement.
You get the point here? I hope I'm making a little bit of sense.
French: nickname for a refined person, sometimes no doubt applied ironically, from Old French curteis, co(curtois ‘refined’, ‘accomplished')
http://ancestrylibrary.com/facts/Courtois-family-history.ash...
I hope this helps.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
narasimha (X)
5 hrs
|
|
Thankis, narasimha!
|
|
| agree |
Jack Dunwell
: Matthew. We don't know about this. It seems that it's largely a sex advert type thing. "Decent sort of chap" "Not rushing in" sort of thing. See Google
20 hrs
|
|
I sure will, sir. I've been a bit baffled myself by this.
|
Discussion
I don't think "John Smith" is actually very widely used as a generic or place-holder name nowadays (perhaps because the numerous real John Smiths object!); the much more obviously non-real "A. N. Other" is preferred.