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  3. Internet, e-Commerce

l'internaute

English translation: Surfer

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:l'internaute
English translation:Surfer
Entered by: Rachel Davenport

07:42 Jul 24, 2005
French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Internet, e-Commerce / Regulations governing Internet advertising of medications in France
French term or phrase: l'internaute
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?
Sidney Lightman
Local time: 20:56
surfer
Explanation:
I'm not sure whether this is not a bit colloquial though ...
Selected response from:

Rachel Davenport
France
Local time: 21:56
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +9Internet User
French2English
3 +6surfer
Rachel Davenport
4Internet surfer, web surfer
Peter Racher


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +6
surfer


Explanation:
I'm not sure whether this is not a bit colloquial though ...

Rachel Davenport
France
Local time: 21:56
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michele Fauble: 'web-surfer' or 'websurfer'
4 mins
  -> Thanks Michele!
agree  Tony M: 'surfer' alone is fine --- and I don't think it's too colloquial, it seems to be almost universal
18 mins
  -> Thanks Dusty!
agree  MurielP (X)
21 mins
  -> Thanks Muriel!
agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
1 hr
  -> Thanks Vicky!
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
  -> Yes, the French pinch so many of our words. Why shouldn't we pinch theirs! Thanks.
agree  Aisha Maniar
3 hrs
  -> Thanks Aisha!
neutral  Charlie Bavington: I share your own reservations about it being possibly a mite too informal for a text on govt regulations.
9 hrs
  -> 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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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +9
Internet User


Explanation:
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!

French2English
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:56
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  sujata
8 mins
  -> Thanks sujata
agree  cmwilliams (X): Depends on context. I think this would be appropriate in a formal context, which this appears to be.
12 mins
  -> Thanks cmw. Indeed - it seemed fairly formal to me too. Thanks.
agree  Kalyani Menon
3 hrs
  -> Thanks Kalyani
agree  RHELLER: sounds like a pretty conservative text - or, eventually, browser
4 hrs
  -> Thanks Rita
agree  Charlie Bavington: Yep, for a formal text, this is what I use.
7 hrs
  -> Thanks Charlie. Hope you never use 'yep' in a formal text though :))
agree  sporran
8 hrs
  -> Thanks, Sporran - and great name!
agree  Philippe Maillard
10 hrs
  -> Tn
agree  Marianne van Lunter: Mêmes arguments que ceux de Charlie.
11 hrs
  -> Thanks Philippe (above) and Marianne
agree  ACOZ (X)
12 hrs
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846 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Internet surfer, web surfer


Explanation:
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...

Example sentence(s):
  • 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...
Peter Racher
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:56
Native speaker of: English
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