Miranda Joubioux (X) (asker) Nov 28, 2009:

:-) Emma - You took the words from my mouth!
"self-appointed umpire" is probably the best we could come up with.

B D Finch Nov 28, 2009:

Re arbitre Emma does have a point about the correct title for an umpire being "arbitre", it could be a "self-appointed umpire". I don't think one has a linesman in boules.

Emma Paulay Nov 28, 2009:

D'accord! La prochaine fois que je croise un bouliste je le cuisinerai jusqu'à ce qu'il me donne le nom de son indic' :-)

Miranda Joubioux (X) (asker) Nov 28, 2009:

I take your point Hi Emma - I looked hard for instances of this word in this context on the web and found none. In your answer you said it was tongue in cheek and I believe you are right. This said. These are a set of figurines and it didn't make sense not to have an umpire of sorts. So I put it in inverted commas. I could not find anything better. I could still be wrong and if ever you come across something better, I'll be happy to change the entry on KudoZ.

Emma Paulay Nov 28, 2009:

Arbitre Sorry, I realise it's too late now but I'd forgotten about this question until I got the "closure" message. I'm not suggesting for a second that my answer is the "right" one, but I fail to see how "umpire" can be a correct translation of "indicateur". Firstly, the umpire is called an "arbitre" in French (http://www.petanque.fr/~ips/index.php?option=com_content&tas... - unless of course "boules françaises" and "pétanque" are two different things. Secondly, it seems strange, to say the least, for an umpire to give advice to the players. But maybe that's why Titi controlled the ball with his hand - because the referee told him it would be a good idea?!