{"id":1633,"date":"2010-09-27T22:33:27","date_gmt":"2010-09-27T22:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=1633"},"modified":"2017-10-18T12:49:52","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T10:49:52","slug":"still-lost-in-abreviation-translation-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/still-lost-in-abreviation-translation-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Still Lost in (Abr\u00e9viation) Translation? (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

French a<\/strong>br\u00e9viations<\/strong> <\/em>are virtually partout<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(everywhere): In les journaux <\/em>(newspapers), les magazines<\/em>,\u00a0les films <\/em>(movies), les conversations quotidiennes<\/em> (daily conversations), including les SMS <\/em>(text messages), etc.<\/p>\n

We continue today the list of must-know French abbreviations, which we have started last week (Lost in (Abr\u00e9viation<\/em>) Translation? (Part 1)<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u00c0 vos marques! Pr\u00eats! Partez!<\/em> <\/strong>(Ready! Steady! Go!)<\/p>\n

* CEDEX:<\/strong>
\n<\/span>We saw last time that the abbreviation\u00a0BP<\/strong> <\/em>in French stands for Po Box<\/strong>.
\nStill about the French poste<\/em>, you need to know about le Cedex<\/em>, which is an acronym for a special sevice called\u00a0”\u00a0C<\/span>ourrier d’E<\/span>ntreprise \u00e0 D<\/span>istribution EX<\/span>ceptionnelle.<\/strong><\/em>” Many foreigners in France wonder what the CEDEX stands for: Is it\u00a0like a code postal<\/em>\u00a0(zip code)? Non<\/em>.\u00a0In plain English, that would be “Mail of\u00a0Companies with Exceptional Distribution”, meaning companies who\u00a0usually receive a lot of letters per day, and therefore need to have a mailing priority with la Poste de\u00a0France. <\/em>In that sense, CEDEX is not unlike the American FedEx.<\/p>\n

For example, if you are\u00a0an<\/em> actionnaire <\/em>(shareholder) of la soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em> “L’Or\u00e9al<\/em>“<\/strong>, you may contact their headquarters\u00a0by mail at\u00a0the following address:
\n
\n” 41<\/em>, rue Martre<\/em> – 92117 Clichy Cedex<\/span><\/em> – France<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0”<\/p>\n

* CGT:<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe Americans have their AFL-CIO<\/strong>; the French\u00a0are blessed with\u00a0their CGT !
\n<\/em>
\n<\/strong>Thanks to the long-running tandem of\u00a0trade union\u00a0CGT<\/em> <\/strong>(la\u00a0<\/em>C<\/span>onf\u00e9d\u00e9ration G<\/span>\u00e9n\u00e9rale de T<\/span>ravail<\/em>)<\/strong> and\u00a0a rather\u00a0rigid French\u00a0patronat <\/em>(employers—See MEDEF<\/strong>),\u00a0<\/strong>la gr\u00e8ve du travail <\/em>(work strike) has become somewhat of a passe-temps\u00a0national<\/em> (national pass-time) in France, at times\u00a0paralyzing all\u00a0economic activity for weeks…<\/p>\n