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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

être en mission

English translation:

to be on assignment

Added to glossary by suzanneb111
Oct 8, 2018 13:41
5 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

être en mission

Non-PRO French to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general) consulting jargon
Bonjour everyone,

I need your help in translating "être en mission", dans le jargon très particulier du monde des consultants... ça veut dire "travailler", en fait :) mais j'aurais besoin d'un équivalent qui sonne "consulting lingo"... "to be on a mission", j'y crois pas du tout, Dieu n'a rien à voir là-dedans :) J'ai pensé à "to be on a job", mais ça me paraît pas terrible... j'imagine qu'il y a une expression consacrée dans ce milieu.

Any ideas?

Cheers!
Suzanne
Proposed translations (English)
4 +10 to be on assignment
Change log

Oct 11, 2018 06:41: David Hayes changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): Carol Gullidge, Yvonne Gallagher, David Hayes

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Discussion

AllegroTrans Oct 8, 2018:
Appropriate jargon... even if such exists, would depend on a) the precise profession b) possibly the jargon used in one particular company/sphere c) the country concerned
As we don't know enough about any of these, asker should accept a "neutral" term (Rob's seems adequate to me) or ask the client what is the English jargon used in the context concerned.
Carol Gullidge Oct 8, 2018:
@ Phillipa I agree with Rob re using jargon for the sake of it; I get the impression that the Asker is simply looking for an expression that sounds natural in this particular context rather than anything contrived
Philippa Smith Oct 8, 2018:
It doesn't to mine either, but isn't that the point? The sentence in question is saying, we don't use normal words, we use jargon...
Here's another example:
https://www.3sconsultinggroup.com/about-us/engagement-proces...
Carol Gullidge Oct 8, 2018:
@ Philippa quite simply, to my ears, "on an engagement" doesn't sound natural in the context, especially "staffed on an engagement".
... Sorry, should have specified "... to my UK ears"! But then, you haven't specified which kind of EN you're looking for; I tend to assume it's UK unless told otherwise!
** apologies: I mean the ASKER hasn't specified which EN variant she's looking for!
Philippa Smith Oct 8, 2018:
@Carol Interested to know why - did you look at my links?
Carol Gullidge Oct 8, 2018:
@ Asker definitely not "engagement" here!
Philippa Smith Oct 8, 2018:
@Rob I don't know, as it's not my world, but I do think "on assignment" gets used outside the corporate world. And "engagement" does seem to be used in this specific way. But as I said, your answer works perfectly well - I was simply throwing in another idea for discussion. ;-)
Rob Grayson Oct 8, 2018:
Using jargon for jargon's sake… …is a mistake, IMHO. "On assignment" is quite jargoney enough, in the sense that the man or woman in the street would be highly unlikely to use it outside a corporate environment.
Philippa Smith Oct 8, 2018:
engagement I think you could use Rob's answer, but am wondering if there is something more "jargoney", as you say, maybe "engagement":
"Engagement / Project / Case
A specific piece of client work. Think of each engagement like a new job that comes with its own set of responsibilities, new managers, and a complete onboarding process."
On the Beach / On the Bench
While it would be great to spend time working on the beach, this actually refers to a consultant who’s not currently staffed on an engagement. Unfortunately, this time is rarely spent sipping margaritas poolside—you’ll likely be helping with other work around the office or trying to find a project."
https://www.themuse.com/advice/do-you-speak-consultantese-20...
and
"There's a lot to do when you're not staffed on an engagement." (consultants answering a question here - but "on assignment" is also mentioned)
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/so-what-does-a-consul...

Proposed translations

+10
4 mins
Selected

to be on assignment

Not at all hard to come by. In fact, it's the first and only definition offered for "en mission" by the Grand Collins-Robert.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2018-10-08 13:53:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Dans le jargon des consultants: on ne 'travaille' pas, on est 'en mission'."

"In consultant-speak, you aren't working: you're on assignment."
Note from asker:
cheers Rob - yes I did see that term too actually, but was wondering if there was something more "jargoney" :)
Hi Rebecca, yes of course, here it is: "Dans le jargon des consultants: on ne 'travaille' pas, on est 'en mission'."
thanks @Rob, sorry I didn't think about giving the full sentence to begin with -- will do next time!
Peer comment(s):
agree AllegroTrans : Yes but some organisations (incl the EU) use 'on mission' in their jargon
2 mins
That may be so, but it's far from a majority usage…
neutral Rebecca Elder : Depends on the context but I'm not sure it would sound fluent in a website tranlation for instance. Do you have the full sentence Suzanne?
3 mins
"…not sure it would sound fluent…"? Then adapt it to suit the specific context. Given that the question was asked without any more specific context, what else did you expect??!
agree writeaway
5 mins
agree Philippa Smith
41 mins
agree Gillian Smithers
44 mins
agree Eliza Hall
1 hr
agree Peter LEGUIE : Yes, or possibly "carrying out..." What do you think?
1 hr
"Carrying out an assignment" is a bit clunky and unidiomatic IMO
agree Carol Gullidge : and definitely not "engagement"!
2 hrs
agree Yolanda Broad
3 hrs
agree Rachel Fell
4 hrs
agree Daryo : le chef ne lit pas son journal pendant le travail, il l'étudie .... etc
10 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks all, and especially Rob! You've earned the points to public acclaim :)"
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