[E. Albright]

Originally posted by Nagot Gick Fel:

quote:

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Originally posted by magnate:
Devil's advocate?

Not quite. You can play the Devil's advocate and still admit it - then 'avocat du diable' would be used in French, which is a litteral translation without any pejorative meaning. When you say about someone, he is 'de mauvaise foi', it's a rather negative judgement: you mean he acts insincerely, and is trying to misguide others (as well as himself, sometimes). Eg, usenet trolls are often 'de mauvaise foi'.

Or could it be that 'Devils' advocate' is used in both cases in English?

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No, your first analysis of 'Devil's advocate' was quite accurate. In fact, this phrase generally implies admission of one's status thereas. But 'de mauvaise foi' really is best translated as 'in bad faith'. We're talking about the 'mauvaise foi' that Sartre was so fond of invoking, n'est-ce pas? The term formally used in philosophy to describe this attitude is 'bad faith'. And its sense is exactly that which was being invoked below. But as I said, that's formal and technical (or at the very least erudite) terminology. Most folk wouldn't recognise it.

[Edit: it seems Babelfish translates 'de mauvaise foi' as 'insincerely']

For quotidian English, I would have to agree with Babelfish... même si les resultats donné par la traduction automatique des expressions sont typiquement atroces...

[ April 30, 2004, 14:43: Message edited by: E. Albright ]