Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
officine
English translation:
(seedy) backstreet establishment, bucket shop, shady agency
French term
officine
'3000 officines employant des milliers de lobbyistes'. The only alternative translation I have found is 'den' - is this the best translation, or can it simply mean 'offices' or 'organizations' ?
Non-PRO (1): Chris Hall
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Proposed translations
(seedy) backstreet establishment
"backstreet establishments such as Canas Y Tapas, where owners like Javier are happy to keep the San Miguel flowing ..."
www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/.../liverpoolfc-tv-with-the-fans-in... -
"Bookmakers are no longer the dingy smoke filled backstreet establishments of yesteryear. They are pleasant, smoke-free, High Street environments serving ..."
www.farnboroughshoparound.com/leisurelifestyle.htm
"This is the heart of the matter - do we want abortions performed in safe legal surroundings or in dubious backstreet establishments? ..."
www.stormfront.org/forum/sitemap/index.php/t-104828.html -
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Note added at 18 hrs (2010-01-05 12:19:06 GMT)
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Some more examples, the last of which uses the word "dodgy", which may also be suitable as an alternative to "seedy" :
"In Outlaws Phil Daniels plays a cynical back street lawyer determined to bleed the legal aid system dry. This release features all the episodes from Season ..."
www.lovefilm.com/film/Outlaws-Complete-Series.../34479/
"Ladies and gentlemen, do not let this shallow braggart - this serial liar - and his shady back-street lawyer deflect you from the main point ..."
uk.messages.finance.yahoo.com/.../threadview?... -
"Like I say, the quote I got was for £281 and was with AXA, so as you can see it wasn't through some dodgy back street insurance company. ..."
www.theiet.org › ... › Student and apprentice discussion forum -
| neutral |
Jean-Louis S.
: Would work if these 'officines' were not generally on 'High Street environments'... [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Street_(Washington,_D.C.)]
8 hrs
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United States
Expert Translations!
Native in: French (Variants: Standard-France, African) 
Works in: English to French, French to English, French
shop
| agree |
sktrans
: even "back shop" www.list.co.uk/place/103387-anteaques/
59 mins
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Merci, SKTrans. 'Back shop' does sound good.
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219 témoignages et ils ne cessent pas...
Native in: English (Variants: British, UK)
Works in: French to English, English
(government) agency
3000 officines employant des milliers de lobbyistes
=
3000 (government) agencies employing thousands of lobbyists
| disagree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
: See "Bucket shop" below ...
4 hrs
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If you are going to disagree with my answer, please be consistent and disagree with the other answers which Michel Morin has deemed to be incorrect.
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| disagree |
Desdemone (X)
: Government agencies employing lobbyists? Ask yourself - who employs lobbyists?
6 hrs
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Many thanks for your constructive feedback. I guess that I just wasn't on my A game this time.
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Retired as of Jan 2019!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English
power brokers
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Note added at 1 hr (2010-01-04 19:31:12 GMT)
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puppet masters / string pullers/
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Note added at 1 hr (2010-01-04 19:31:49 GMT)
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or are perhaps "burocrats" meant here?
| agree |
philgoddard
: I very much like all of these except "bureaucrats", which has too many public-sector connotations.
16 mins
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France
12 years' experience
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Spanish to English, and 1 more.
Quango
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Note added at 1 hr (2010-01-04 19:41:14 GMT)
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Could be an NGO.
Austria
more than thirty years of experience
Native in: German 
Works in: Greek to German, English to German, Greek to English, and 5 more.
Educational centres for lobbyists or Lobbyist Education Centres
www.lobbyist.org/advocacy_tools/
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Note added at 1 Stunde (2010-01-04 19:41:59 GMT)
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i.e. the place where lobbyists are taught their wisdom. Officine in this context is being used as synonym for workshop where they learn their professional skills.
Bucket shop
That's why I do not agree with all suggested translations: it's not a shop, nor an educational centre or even a quango (nothing to do with a NGO) or power brokers. I suggest "bucket shop", which has indeed a derogatory meaning. See web.ref. 2
always derogatory
http://www.lejdd.fr/Societe/Justice/Actualite/EDF-Greenpeace-et-les-barbouzes-74919/
http://www.granddictionnaire.com/BTML/FRA/r_Motclef/index800_1.asp
| agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
: Lieu où se trame quelque chose (péjoratif). I agree with you regarding the other answers ... Bravo, mon vieux.
1 hr
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Merci old top.
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| neutral |
Stephanie Ezrol
: A bucket shop is U.S. term from about 100 yrs ago refering to companies fraudelently selling stock they didn't own. See Eugene O'Neil's "The Iceman Cometh."
4 hrs
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Well, according to the "office québecquois de la langue française", this term seems to be still in use... And it HAS the necessary derogatory meaning...
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| neutral |
B D Finch
: In the UK this term is generally applied to cheapo travel agents that undercut the properly insured and established ones.// Derogatory yes, but not travel agents in context of this question.
13 hrs
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Yes - therefore the derogatory accent.
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Discussion