# le chômeur



## SylviaF

Hi,
I'm looking for a translation of "le chômeur" in English, i.e a synonym for "the unemployed" and "unemployed persons" 

Many thanks both to those who have already made suggestions, and those who may still be able to help.
Sylvia


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## mickaël

Hi, 

Do you want it in french or in english ? I'm not sure  

In french you can say _"un sans-emploi",_ but it means "the unemployed" ...


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## SylviaF

Sorry Mickaël, I've confused you.  I'm looking for a translation from French to English.


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## mickaël

D'accord 

Tu peux dire _"person out of work"_


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## prêt-à-penser

le sans-emploi, le sur le pavé, le demandeur d'emploi


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## mickaël

Je crois que le message de SylviaF devrait être édité 
Elle veux des synonymes en anglais de* "jobless".* 

Ou je n'ai toujours pas compris ??  Possible, il est tôt...


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## SylviaF

mickaël said:
			
		

> Je crois que le message de SylviaF devrait être édité
> Elle veux des synonymes en anglais de* "jobless".*
> 
> Ou je n'ai toujours pas compris ??  Possible, il est tôt...


 

Hello again, Michaël.
Oui tu as bien compris, et oui aussi je suis un peu confuse, trop de choses à faire à la fois et trop tôt le matin . Je viens de réviser ma demande - j'espère que c'est plus claire maintenant, je me creuse la tête en vain pour l'instant ...

Merci de ton aide,
Sylvia


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## mickaël

Re-bonjour!

Sur ce dictionnaire des synonymes :http://dico.isc.cnrs.fr/dico/en/search
, j'en ai trouvé quelques un supplémentaires.

http://dico.isc.cnrs.fr/dico/en/search?b=1&r=jobless&send=Look+it+up
Mais sûr que les anglophones doivent en connaître du même acabit que notre "sur le pavé". 



PS : C'est beaucoup plus clair maintenant


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## bathil

je propose :
Jobless - sans emploi _ou_ au chômage


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## Juri

Unemployd workers/persons, jobless youths, jobless rate
to be out of work,technological unemployment
to register as unemployd, to get unemployment benefit/compensation


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## pekinight

job finder, job seeker or job snooper.

or holiday-man. ^^


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## SylviaF

Thank you all for your help - I think I'll just join the holiday-makers and go sit on a beach somewhere ...
 Sylvia


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## rsweet

I think this expression is used mainly in BE, but I like it. "Someone on the dole."

My apologies to GB if I learned this expression incorrectly in the colonies.


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## calembourde

I've heard 'on the dole' as well. For an even more obscure one, in NZ we might say, 'beneficiary' (someone 'on the benefit'.) I suppose in the US it would be somebody 'on welfare'.

But most of the suggestions so far are phrases, or adjectives combined with 'person', not quite as simple as chômeur. I think the most widely recognisable noun for a jobless person is pekinight's suggestion, jobseeker (or job-seeker, job seeker... they all seem very common according to Google.) Of course, that implies the person is actually looking for a job.


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## rsweet

calembourde said:
			
		

> I suppose in the US it would be somebody 'on welfare'.



For me, social benefit systems in other countries are really hard to understand fully. I have a friend in Brittany who works for CAF. She tried to explain her job to me, but I couldn't relate it to anything in the US. "Welfare" and "unemployment" in the US are two very different things: if someone has been employed and loses his job, he is usually entitled to receive unemployment benefits for a certain period of time while he is looking for a new job. He would be a person on unemployment. 

I've also heard the expression "unemployed," but it is always used for a group, not an individual. "John has just joined the ranks of the unemployed."


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## SylviaF

I think this is a case when there's not a very good translation available. My report is all about unemployment benefits, and I've used jobseeker and unemployed person as well as jobless and also beneficiary, in various contexts, but none of them is as simple and straightforward as "chômeur", though I think jobless is probably closest.
On the dole is a bit too idiomatic in this particular context. 
Many thanks to you all for your help and suggestions. This forum is invaluable !!
Bonne nuit à tous,
Sylvia


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## petereid

A l'heure actuelle, en Angleterre, le mot just est "Jobseeker"

politics!


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## SylviaF

Ah !  Merci Petereid - je suis loin du pays depuis trop longtemps et le "politiquement correct" change si vite ... politics, as you said !


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## Tylwyth Teg

hi
u can't really say 'a jobless person' or 'jobless people' in english. 'he is jobless/they are jobless' is ok, but not much better. 'on the dole' is very informal and probably not suitable for a report on unemployment benefits because it could come across as offensive. 
the only real way of translating it is unemployed (you can use it singularly as in 'he is unemployed')there aren't very many formal synonyms for it I'm afraid.
just read the last message, and jobseekers works too although it does suggest that they are actively looking for work


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## petereid

L'allocation de l'etat s'appelle "Jobseeker's allowance"


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## Tresley

I usually translate 'chômeur' as 'unemployed'.

e.g. 'Il est chômeur' = 'He is unemployed'

'Jobseeker' means that the person is looking for work.  'Unemployed' means that he is out of work and may or may not be looking for work.


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## bpipoly

rsweet said:
			
		

> I think this expression is used mainly in BE, but I like it. "Someone on the dole."
> 
> My apologies to GB if I learned this expression incorrectly in the colonies.



I am confused. Being on the dole is equal to being on welfare. While being unemployed can mean that someone is on the dole, those are not same.


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## anangelaway

Bonjour!

D'après notre cher et tendre TLFi, il y aurait 4 différents types de chômeurs:


> 2. Dans l'opinion courante, un chômeur est une personne qui est sans travail. Mais il y a beaucoup de personnes sans travail qui ne sont pas des chômeurs (...) en réalité, la définition internationale aboutit à distinguer quatre catégories de chômeurs : *les personnes ayant perdu un emploi salarié* (...), *celles qui n'ont jamais travaillé* (...) *celles qui ont perdu ou abandonné un statut de non-salarié*, (...) *celles enfin qui entrent de nouveau sur le marché du travail salarié*.
> J. LECAILLON, Le Chômage pour qui? pourquoi? Paris, Le Centurion, 1975, p. 9.



However, I woud agree with jobseeker. Somehow if it is related to unemployment benefits, only the jobseekers would get an allowance logically. As they have to be registered as jobseekers: they are 'actively' looking for a job and then in the meantime would receive some benefits.


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## virtdave

From an etymological point of view, _chômeur_ derives from _chômage_, which suggests that it simply means _unemployed_.  It seems that in current usage, it tends to imply that the person is looking for work, or being _subventioné_ in his unemployment.  However, see http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/chomage
which mentions that, for instance, a mill or canal can be _en __chômage _when it's out of service.  _On the dole_, used in BE but not to my knowledge in AE, certainly implies that the state is doling out money to the unemployed person.


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## paulochine

i usually heard about the word "unemployee",is not that?


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## virtdave

You have probably heard _employee_, which is used in the sense of a person employed by a company.  I have never heard the word _unemployee._  It would be a logical, but to an anglophone an amusing invented word, I think.


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## paulochine

no way you never heard it,if you say is a word unoffical,maybe, but I just googled it,people tell.anyway,i be told this an " American English"

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## virtdave

I did not think to google _unemployee_, so I just did...and yes, there are a surprising number of hits...but I think it's only used humorously, and in http://www.spellingcenter.com/unemployee
it's designated as a misspelled word.


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## SylviaF

anangelaway said:
			
		

> Bonjour!
> 
> D'après notre cher et tendre TLFi, il y aurait 4 différents types de chômeurs:
> [/font][/size]
> However, I woud agree with jobseeker. Somehow if it is related to unemployment benefits, only the jobseekers would get an allowance logically. As they have to be registered as jobseekers: they are 'actively' looking for a job and then in the meantime would receive some benefits.


 
Exactly ... my report is all about the activities that jobseekers have to undertake in order to retain their unemployment benefit rights .... "Jobseekers" not seeking actively enough, may lose their rights in certain countries (but retain their rights to welfare benefits ...).  Complicated, did someone say complicated ? 

Your help has been great and is much appreciated.


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