DCHP-3

animateur

< Canadian French animateur
DCHP-2 (Aug 2012)
†n. & adj. — often Entertainment

someone who coordinates or is the presiding influence behind an activity or event.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — The term animateur is a direct borrowing from Canadian French into Canadian English. In Canadian English, the term has many meanings (see the 2007 quotation), though 'facilitator' is the most common one (see the 1997 quotation).

See also COD-2, s.v. "animateur", Gage-5, s.v. "animateur", and OED-3, s.v. "animateur".
See: animator(meaning 2)
See fist note at animator

Quotations

1983
Turcot disagrees, however, that there is a debate about artists versus non-artists in the job. "It has always been seen as more an animateur job than an administration job." During Dennison's years, another problem loomed large.
1986
If English is an invader of other languages, it's also a sneak thief, and its loot is foreign words. It takes what it needs. Sometimes, however, it takes more than it needs. The booty includes much dreck (a word that comes to us from German, via Yiddish), including animateur. Cultural lag has its advantages, and one of them is that down here in Nova Scotia you seldom meet an animateur. But my spy in Montreal puts animateur at the top of her list of the "francobabble" that's infecting government and media in central Canada. An animateur, she explains, is "one who co-ordinates, liaises, moderates in the world of workshops, panels, conferences. The animateur has an ill-defined job that enables him to do a lot of talking and not much else." When I get my chance to cleanse Canadian English, I'll impose stiff fines on everyone who uses animateur, the repulsive verbs liaise and dialogue, and concertation. Incorrigible offenders will go to la geole.
1988
John Beckwith's role in Canadian cultural life extends considerably beyond the field of composition. An important teacher, animateur and scholar, he has been a conscience to the world on his country's behalf, urging recognition for Canadian music.
1994
We also learned to tame the wild "animateurs," who stalk the forest wearing pith helmets with the sign "Questions???" printed on them. All this with an impromptu commentary by animateur Yves Paris, who lived in the North with the Indians, and who knows the ways of beavers.
1997
Sometimes [Quebec] anglophones simply borrow French terms, such as poutine, a concoction of french fries, cheese and gravy. But they also have started to borrow the meaning of French words and use them in English. For example, an animator in the rest of the world is a cartoonist. In French, an animateur is someone who organizes workshops or other events. So some Quebec anglos say, "I need an animator for tomorrow's discussion group.''
2004
On the pretext of discussing the organization's 35th season, I spoke with Verstappen at the Early Music office in Fairview's heritage Hodson Manor earlier this week. Officially their executive director, he's really best defined by the French term animateur: someone who makes things happen.
2007
Finally, an extremely astute comment from Patricia Dyksterhuis about nouns of French origin [...] that I discussed in my last column: "The reason we have such difficulty with them," she wrote, "is that they are multi-purpose words in French while English prefers a more specific word. 'Stagiaire,' for example, can be trainee or apprentice, both general terms, but may also be translated as student teacher, intern or junior employee. What is appropriate depends on the field." Similarly, 'animateur' can be interpreter, guide, leader, host, personality, DJ, emcee, speaker, moderator, facilitator, etc. There is no easy one-word solution to these problems and so we tend to use the French version."

References

  • OED-3
  • COD-2
  • Gage-5