{"id":4226,"date":"2011-03-07T05:06:03","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T05:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=4226"},"modified":"2017-10-19T13:18:47","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T11:18:47","slug":"part1-the-real-french-captain-sparrow-surcouf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/part1-the-real-french-captain-sparrow-surcouf\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real French Captain Sparrow: SURCOUF!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brave crew of the French Blog <\/a> ship: \u00c0 l’abordage ! <\/strong><\/em>(Stand by to board!)<\/p>\n

While the personnage <\/strong><\/em>of Jack Sparrow <\/strong>remains nothing more than a\u00a0Disney<\/a> fictional concoction\u00a0aimed primarily\u00a0at entertaining the masses of moviegoers, the existence of a legendary\u00a0French Pirate -or rather “corsaire<\/strong><\/em>“, s’il vous pla\u00eet<\/strong><\/em>!-\u00a0who went by the quasi-onomatopoeian nickname of SURCOUF <\/strong>is bel et bien \u00e9tablie <\/em><\/strong>(all very well established.)<\/p>\n

Before a Captain Sparrow, there was a SURCOUF!<\/strong><\/p>\n

But before telling you more on this h\u00e9ros des mers <\/strong><\/em>(hero of the seas), une <\/strong>mise au point <\/strong><\/em>(a clarifying note) is actually de mise <\/em><\/strong>(appropriate):<\/p>\n

Whether in English or French, many people tend to\u00a0hold the terms pirate<\/em><\/strong> and corsaire <\/strong><\/em>(in English “corsair”) as interchangeable or even simply\u00a0synonymous.<\/p>\n

En fait<\/strong><\/em> (in fact), history shows us that\u00a0it is far from being the case.<\/p>\n

Un corsaire<\/em><\/strong>, who is also called a “corsair<\/strong>” or a “privateer<\/strong>” in English, is any individual who operates on behalf of a sovereign government or a monarch, as opposed to\u00a0mere pirates <\/em><\/strong>who plunder ships for their own benefit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Furthermore, acorsaire <\/strong><\/em>ought to possess a specially signed\u00a0document,\u00a0called une lettre de marque <\/em><\/strong>(in English a “letter of marque”), also known as une lettre de la course<\/em><\/strong>. So essentially, instead of being “licences to kill<\/em>” \u00e0-la-<\/em>007<\/strong>, these\u00a0letters, which\u00a0correspond to what is today known as un d\u00e9cret <\/em><\/strong>(decree)\u00a0are mostly “licences to steal<\/strong><\/em>“—in the sole\u00a0interest of the national security, of course!<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n