Re: [HM] Monsieur LeBlanc

David Fowler (david.fowler@maths.warwick.ac.uk)
Sat, 6 Nov 1999 12:40:21 +0000

I must make a small but perhaps crucial point: 'de/missionnaire' means
someone who has 'resigned' or, at most, 'given up' or is incapable of doing
the job. Apparently it originally was applied to official positions, so
would be appropriate for someone at the Ecole Polytechniqe (= X). However
it can be used ironically for 'dismissed', though this is unlikely in an
official context

David Fowler

At 11:55 pm +0100 5/11/99, Udai Venedem wrote:
...
> Bizarre, bizarre! The mention "mort" (dead) is not of a French
> administrative language; it should be "de/ce/d/e" (deceased). And
> beside, as I already pointed out, in the very accurate X school
> directory he is only (if may be said) mentioned as "de/missionnaire"
> (i.e. he dismissed from the service), when others, if deceased,
> are mentioned so.