French Word of the Day: Désmicardiser
This French word has come up quite a lot during recent French political discussions, but you won't find it in the dictionary.
Why do I need to know désmicardiser?
Because Google Translate does not know what to do with this new term.
What does it mean?
Désmicardiser - roughly pronounced day-smee-car-dee-zay - is not a French word you will find in the dictionary.
Most recently, it was used by France’s PM Gabriel Attal during a speech about plans for his mandate.
And Google translate had a nightmare with it, ending up telling people that the French PM wanted to "discard France" (which is why you should always be wary of relying on machine translation).
Amusing as that might have been, it's not what désmicardiser means.
The verb combines the prefix de with the informal term smicard, which is an informal way of referring to someone who earns minimum wage.
Basically, Attal’s invented word means ‘to move people off minimum wage’ or 'to take the country away from a minimum wage economy'.
The minimum wage in France is the Salaire minimum de croissance, widely known as le Smic (pronounced smeek). A smicard is therefore someone who is on minimum wage, and to désmicardiser would be to push people toward higher paying careers.
The term smicard itself is not necessarily derogatory - it simply means someone who is in work but not earning very much. However, it's often used in political contexts to shame politicians over the fact that people working in low-wage but important jobs, such as cleaners, cannot afford to pay their bills.
You might hear the similar term smicardisation which describes a country or an economy that is moving towards primarily minimum wage jobs.
Use it like this
J'assume de le dire, il faut désmicardiser la France. - I’m prepared to say it - we must move people away from minimum wages in France.
Le premier ministre veut désmicardiser la France, mais tout le monde est curieux de savoir quelles politiques permettraient d'y parvenir. - The prime minister wants to see fewer people on minimum wages in France, but everyone is curious about which policies would achieve this.
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Why do I need to know désmicardiser?
Because Google Translate does not know what to do with this new term.
What does it mean?
Désmicardiser - roughly pronounced day-smee-car-dee-zay - is not a French word you will find in the dictionary.
Most recently, it was used by France’s PM Gabriel Attal during a speech about plans for his mandate.
And Google translate had a nightmare with it, ending up telling people that the French PM wanted to "discard France" (which is why you should always be wary of relying on machine translation).
Amusing as that might have been, it's not what désmicardiser means.
The verb combines the prefix de with the informal term smicard, which is an informal way of referring to someone who earns minimum wage.
Basically, Attal’s invented word means ‘to move people off minimum wage’ or 'to take the country away from a minimum wage economy'.
The minimum wage in France is the Salaire minimum de croissance, widely known as le Smic (pronounced smeek). A smicard is therefore someone who is on minimum wage, and to désmicardiser would be to push people toward higher paying careers.
The term smicard itself is not necessarily derogatory - it simply means someone who is in work but not earning very much. However, it's often used in political contexts to shame politicians over the fact that people working in low-wage but important jobs, such as cleaners, cannot afford to pay their bills.
You might hear the similar term smicardisation which describes a country or an economy that is moving towards primarily minimum wage jobs.
Use it like this
J'assume de le dire, il faut désmicardiser la France. - I’m prepared to say it - we must move people away from minimum wages in France.
Le premier ministre veut désmicardiser la France, mais tout le monde est curieux de savoir quelles politiques permettraient d'y parvenir. - The prime minister wants to see fewer people on minimum wages in France, but everyone is curious about which policies would achieve this.
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