agent d'entretien

English translation: cleaner / cleaning operative

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:agent d'entretien
English translation:cleaner / cleaning operative
Entered by: Tony M

05:41 Aug 21, 2014
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial - Human Resources / Job title
French term or phrase: agent d'entretien
Hi everybody, I have a question: how should I translate "agent d'entretien" from Fr to En? It is not about spokesperson. I really appreciate it, thanks a lot.
sorinat
Romania
cleaner / cleaning operative
Explanation:
Traditionally, this usually means a 'cleaner'; however, modern HR jargon tends to avoid such a pejorative-sounding title, so you might want to look at various more highfalutin euphemisms for the same thing.

Just one word of caution, though: although 'entretien' usually connotes 'cleaning', in certain specific contexts, there could be a greater or lesser degree of actual 'maintenance' involved — so you will need to look at your overall context (which it would have helped to have shared with us!) to see what this job really appears to involve; you may need to extrapolate from the type of organization, the salary level, and other clues you may be able to glean.

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Note added at 37 minutes (2014-08-21 06:19:25 GMT)
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Of course, it also depends on WHERE this job is carried out — an 'agent d'entretien' for 'espaces verts', for example, would be some kind of gardener...
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 12:24
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2cleaner / cleaning operative
Tony M
3maintenance person or worker
Gaurav Sharma


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
cleaner / cleaning operative


Explanation:
Traditionally, this usually means a 'cleaner'; however, modern HR jargon tends to avoid such a pejorative-sounding title, so you might want to look at various more highfalutin euphemisms for the same thing.

Just one word of caution, though: although 'entretien' usually connotes 'cleaning', in certain specific contexts, there could be a greater or lesser degree of actual 'maintenance' involved — so you will need to look at your overall context (which it would have helped to have shared with us!) to see what this job really appears to involve; you may need to extrapolate from the type of organization, the salary level, and other clues you may be able to glean.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 37 minutes (2014-08-21 06:19:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Of course, it also depends on WHERE this job is carried out — an 'agent d'entretien' for 'espaces verts', for example, would be some kind of gardener...

Tony M
France
Local time: 12:24
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 103
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you!!!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  B D Finch: Perhaps modern HR-jargon-users need to review their prejudices and the value they attribute to cleaning. ;)
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, B! :-) Too right! Now it is so often being out-sourced, you get a toilet that is spotless once a day... but filthy the rest of the time :-(

agree  Gaurav Sharma: in order to close the question.
17 days
  -> Thanks, Gaurav!
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26 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
maintenance person or worker


Explanation:
You should have searched it in the gloss before posting. It is already there in the gloss.

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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2014-08-22 08:39:59 GMT)
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I agree with Tony, but his suggestion is very specific. In absence of enough text, in my opinion, we should go with such term which cover all conditions or working areas.

In the same way, as Tony has specified, an 'agent d'entretien' for 'espaces verts', for example, would be some kind of gardener. So as we don't know the exact context. We should avoid any specific term because it may lead to wrong direction.

I don't want to challenge Tony's answer but just giving my opinion.

Gaurav Sharma
India
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you!!!

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