Weasel word - FR > EN: "acteur", He's a real player!

I don't care how many hits you get with "player"; this word makes for a poor translation of the word "acteur".

According to the OED, here is what a "player" means:

1. A sportsperson
2. A confident, successful man with many sexual partners
3. Someone who plays a musical instrument, e.g. a guitar player
4. An actor, as in The Comedy Store Players (http://www.comedystoreplayers.com)

Some translators may be in the habit of using "actor", which seems permissible under OED rules:

Actor - a participant in an action or process: employers are key actors within industrial relations.

So, it's okay to transliterate "acteur" without giving it a second thought. But French loves these abstract words whereas English wants to nail down the concept. How often do you see the word "actor" in the FT unless it's in the arts section?

Another word that comes from the Latin agere, to act, is agent. Sometimes "agent" will fit better than "actor". After all, we talk about an "agent of change".

More poetical translators might also like "movers and shakers". Less lyrically but just as poignant, "prime mover" has more impact as a word in English than "actor".

Other solutions welcome!

FR > EN contrats onéreux > onerous contracts = spotting Frenglish

Often it's so hard to tell when a French expression has been calqued on the English equivalent but this is the case for "contrats onéreux". From Ménard (2004):

Dans ce contexte, l'adjectif onéreux est un faux ami en français. On dit d'un acte qu'il est à titre onéreux lorsque chaque partie doit fournir une contrepartie. L'expression à titre onéreux s'oppose à à titre gratuit.

So "onerous contract" is fine.

Ménard suggests "contrats déficitaires" as the French equivalent.