# Usage of the French phrase 'à la retraite' **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561 "2022-06-02T11:51:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/1 "2022-06-02T11:51:31Z")
I came across the following : "“Qu’est-ce que c’est?”, crie le policier à la retraite par la fenêtre de sa chambre. Il dormait. I have not come across the phrasing ‘à la retraite par la fenêtre’ before. Does it mean a ‘recess’ or ‘alcove’ by the window? Or is it a poor use of French? ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/2 "2022-06-02T12:06:32Z")
I’m sure it just means 'retired police officer by the window". I had read more into than there was. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/3 "2022-06-02T15:30:51Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > I’m sure it just means 'retired police officer by the window". Yep, that’s right ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/4 "2022-06-02T18:42:01Z")
Yes, it’s a retired police officer that screams by his bedroom’s window. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/5 "2022-06-03T05:23:58Z")
I was thinking it meant the police officer jumped out the window. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/6 "2022-06-03T14:19:29Z")
Just out of curiosity – is there a single-word adjective in French that could replace “à la retraite” in the sentence and retain close to the same meaning? Something like “passé” or “ancien”? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/7 "2022-06-03T14:25:28Z")
What’s wrong with “ancien” ? (I mean preposed, e.g. “un ancien policier”) ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/8 "2022-06-03T16:02:05Z")
“Ex” or “ancien” means that he is no longer a policeman but it can be for having been fired, or dismissed himself. “A la retraite” convoys the meaning that he is 1) old enough (\> 55 years) and 2) finished his carrier in the police completely. So not really a single word that will have the same infos. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/9 "2022-06-03T19:04:04Z")
A single word would “retraité” meaning “retired”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/10 "2022-06-03T19:11:28Z")
> [@J-P\_L](#): > > A single word would “retraité” meaning “retired” . FWIW, Google Translate (I know, I know …) allows French “l’homme retraité” to render English “the retired man”. That doesn’t mean there’s not a connotation that makes the phrase clunky or somehow off in French. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/11 "2022-06-03T19:47:36Z")
Yes, sorry; “un ancien policier” = “a former policeman”. For “retraité” in novels, e.g. > Il y a deux personnes dans la salle d’attente. L’une est un vieillard d’une maigreur extrême, un professeur de français retraité qui continue à donner des cours par correspondance et qui attend son tour en corrigeant avec un crayon finement taillé un paquet de copies. vs (in the same book) > Mais si Monsieur Echard — vieux bibliothécaire à la retraite dont la marotte était d’accumuler des preuves démontrant qu’Hitler était toujours vivant — était la bonhommie même, sa femme se révéla une véritable teigne dont les récriminations continuelles aux heures des repas ne tardèrent pas à rallumer sérieusement le conflit… ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/12 "2022-06-04T15:31:14Z")
Yes, “retraité” as adjective would do the job. But it’s of more use as a noun (“un retraité”, “les retraités”) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/13 "2022-06-05T03:57:53Z")
The French speakers I know (who I’m always asking about my amateur French) claim that they’re lazy enough that they’ll shorten anything. “_Je ne sais pas_” became _"J’pas_" long ago. Heck, I spent the best years of my life learning their awkward counting, where seventy is 'Soixante-dix" (“sixty-ten”), eighty is said “Quatre-vingt” (“four twenties”) and ninety is “Quatre-vingt dix” (“four twenties ten”). _Quelle le fuque?_ And now, the younger Frenchies laugh at me and say they gave up on that, and just say Soixante, Septante, Huitante, Neufante. So I’m betting _à la retraite_ would be shortened to _retraité._ And “Un vieux bibliothécaire à la retraite” would be “Un bibliothécaire retraité”. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/14 "2022-06-05T11:24:18Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And now, the younger Frenchies laugh at me and say they gave up on that, and just say Soixante, Septante, Huitante, Neufante. I was told that was the usage in Belgium (don’t know how true that is). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/15 "2022-06-05T13:18:18Z")
I have never, ever heard that in France, but I have in Switzerland, past the border. Belgium, I can’t remember. Either way, I would not talk like that unless you are deliberately putting on a dialect. Also, FYI, someone who visited Québec City later reported “un accent morbide”, I believe she said 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/16 "2022-06-05T21:09:07Z")
Yep, Belgium and Swiss count as septante (70), octante (80) and nonante (90). But if you say that in France, you will be looked at (and maybe not even understood) even by youngsters. And we used “mille neuf cent quatre vingt dix neuf” for 1999… ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/17 "2022-06-05T21:12:22Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Soixante, Septante, Huitante, Neufante. Soixante: universal Septante: Switzerland and Belgium Huitante: Switzerland only. In France and Belgium 80 is still quatre-vingts. Octante: Canada? Nonante: Switzerland and Belgium ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/18 "2022-06-05T21:17:11Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > "“Qu’est-ce que c’est?”, crie le policier à la retraite par la fenêtre de sa chambre. Il dormait. Help me make sense of this. The retired policeman is shouting through the window while sleeping? Or he had recently been sleeping but is now awake and shouting through the window? Or the person sleeping is a different person from the person shouting? ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usage-of-the-french-phrase-a-la-retraite/965561/19 "2022-06-06T14:13:11Z")
He was sleeping, had been waken up and shouts to know what waken him.