Company title

[CeeJay]

I have seen various companies or enterprises with the initials Ets before their name e.g Ets Michel Berger, what does Ets stand for?

[Cassis]

I've always assumed it to be "Entreprise" but really DK for sure.

What does CJ stand for? [;-)]

[Will]

I didn't get where I am today by not knowing that ets was short for entreprise [:D]

Or that CJ's real name was Charles Jefferson.

[Cassis]

[img]http://www.leonardrossiter.com/reginaldperrin/32006.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.leonardrossiter.com/reginaldperrin/26022.jpg[/img]

 [:D][:D][:D]

[Will]

You beat me to it - I found that picture too. Neither Mrs CJ nor I have ever published our portraits on line.

[Dick Smith]

What on earth is CJ doing to Kermit?

[samdebretagne]

I always thought it stood for "établissements", could be wrong though.

[YCCMB]

It is etablissements.

[Will]

I think you will find it can be either.

[Cjlaws]

[quote user="Will "]I think you will find it can be either.[/quote]

I'd really like to know where you found that information, Will, as I've only ever been able to find it as an abreviation for Etablissements. Thanks if you can find the time to post a reply.

[Will]

I'm sure I have seen 'entreprise' written out in full, as well as abbreviated, on an invoice from a French company. But needless to say I don't have it to hand at present. I tried Googling in French on 'ets' followed by both 'etablissements'and 'entreprise' and both seemed to come up with a lot of valid-looking French sites. So it looks to me that if I am wrong, then so are quite a few Frenchmen. I'd be perfectly prepared to believe that 'etablissement' may be the 'correct' version, but both seem to be in everyday use.

[Cassis]

I know a local business called Entreprise Payen which has 'Ets Payen' on some documentation. 

As Will says, in the strictest sense (having done a Yahoo! rather than a Google) it is possible that it means "établissements", as this came up in the only dictionary of French abbreviations and acronyms where I could find "Ets".  Oddly, it does not appear in my big Larousse dictionary, which lists just about every other abbreviation imaginable, nor in several other online dictionaries of abbreviations.

[CeeJay]

What  wonderful replies to my very inocuous question, albeit around my nom de plume CeeJay. However Mrs CeeJay thought that she also would enter into the spirit of things hence:

When C.J. asks he gets replies

And what a lot he gets.

Just from a simple question:-

'What is the meaning of Ets'

Some thought it was for Enterprise

But many disagreed.

They thought it was Etablissement.

Now whose word should he heed?

No good asking Leonard

Afraid he's dead and gone.

Won't know much about it

From one Charles Jefferson.

Who to believe? Well, he's not sure.

P'raps turn the heat down low.

Or maybe ask a Frenchman

'Cos surely he must know!

[YCCMB]

Suit yourselves, but here's what I found. I think (and I could well be wrong) that an abbreviation of Entreprise would be better if the "n" were maintained (Ent) and the "s" would be redundant unless it was there to denote a plural. But hey, what do I know?[8-)]

Troncation au milieu (syncope)

Deux traitements différents du bord droit du mot abrégé : soit il est réalisé en lettres supérieures (c'est-à-dire placées plus haut que les autres), soit il est réalisé sur la même ligne. Ce procédé d'abréviation est couramment utilisé dans l'écriture manuscrite.

Mme	madame	bd	boulevard
Mmes	mesdames	fg	faubourg
Mlle	mademoiselle	Ets	Etablissements
Me	maître
Dr	docteur	no	numéro
		nos	numéros
		Cie	Compagnie

[Cjlaws]

[quote user="Cassis"]I know a local business called Entreprise Payen which has 'Ets Payen' on some documentation. 

As Will says, in the strictest sense (having done a Yahoo! rather than a Google) it is possible that it means "établissements", as this came up in the only dictionary of French abbreviations and acronyms where I could find "Ets".  Oddly, it does not appear in my big Larousse dictionary, which lists just about every other abbreviation imaginable, nor in several other online dictionaries of abbreviations.
[/quote]

Yes, I find it odd that Ets doesn't appear in the big Larousse, or in the big Robert/Collins (unless it's in the very latest one which I won't receive before next week). But it is in the monolingual Petit (roughly 3000 pages) Robert as: Abrév. graphique de Etablissements.

[Cassis]

Like the poem, Ceejay! [:D]