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16:13 Mar 5, 2009 

Thanks everyone for all your input, time and research. I think we've been right to conclude that the English language just doesn't have the same array of terms as the French (no doubt due to different attitudes towards prostitution in its various forms). In the end I left "belles horizontales" in French and translated "cocottes" as "courtesans." If the readership were more specialised, there would definitely have been a case for including a footnote. Again, many thanks to everyone, I do appreciate your help.

19:00 Mar 3, 2009 

I think 'courtesan' is a good choice if this is for marketing material rather than a historical account. It's probably not the most accurate, but does not risk sounding coarse.

08:42 Mar 3, 2009 

Some background info: this is a marketing-oriented text for the general public. I agree that the "average" reader can make sense of "belles horizontales" in French but perhaps not "cocotte" which, after all, in English is first and foremost a kind of casserole dish! As for explanatory phrases in brackets, I fear this will "weigh down" the text. I don't think footnotes are appropriate here either, given that this will probably finish up as a glossy brochure of some sort. My idea at the present time is to leave "belles horizontales" in French and translate "cocottes" as courtesans.

06:28 Mar 3, 2009 

The concept just can't be transferred into today's English.

21:01 Mar 2, 2009 

but I'm going to suggest again that this is kept in the FR. These are 19th century terms and we just can't find EN terms that would fit because the EN-speaking world had such a different take on such matters, though they were equally into worrying about the unquantifiable women (of all sorts) on the street. It was precisely because ordinary women were allowed further afield into the public arena that there was this disquiet and so many terms proliferated to try and fix them all into categories. It was just done in such a different way from culture to culture. As in my previous links to the source material, I suggest you retain the FR and follow the terms with brief explanatory remarks in brackets. Well, that's just my view! How can we hope to get the nuances right?

20:13 Mar 2, 2009 

Any En term still used today is going to lower the tone and give the wrong, sordid, sort of impression that just isn't appropriate for any of the French terms.

18:32 Mar 2, 2009 

I can't see any way to preserve the humor of "belles horizontales" --at least without reference to the parallel English joke, "she makes her living on her back."

But the adjective "belles" and the context in which the whole term is used suggests, at least to me, a socio-economic level somewhat above that of the street.

18:28 Mar 2, 2009 

We are definitely into this subject on a very profound level --barely fitting for a Family Site.

I'm not sure that any of these 6 refers to the lowest class of prostitutes (whores, hookers, perhaps even "tarts" [at least as U.S. speakers understand --or miunderstand-- that last term]).

Lacking the linguistic subleties of the Latins, we anglophones may be driven to the use of appropriate adjectives (as with my "cultured courtesans" previously rejected).

"middle class/bohemian" would be my choices for the "bourgeoise/demi-mondaine" adjectives.

As the OED indicated, "courtesan" had a rather low-class connotation from its earliest usages (curiously enough, given the courtly origin of the word), but it definitely has acquired a somewhat higher status, at least in current U.S. usage --this may have to do with the perceived elevated "clientelle" of the courtesan. No U.S. speaker would refer to a common prostitute/hooker/whole as a "courtesan."

A courtesan's clientelle would include High Class men, like members of Congress, perhaps even Presidents....

Though "call girl" is usually reserved for the former group; while "intern" seems to have come of age for the lat

17:25 Mar 2, 2009 

As I see it, all 6 terms are nuances of pretty much the same type of woman, i.e. courtesan. The slight differences are "élégante and cocottes" refer to appearance/fashion, "bourgeoise and demi-mondaine" to background/role in society and the last two have more overt sexual connotations. As you said before Sandra, English just doesn't have the same array of terms...