Americans Don't Know Nothin' 'bout Canada

[danalwyn]

I have a stupid Canada question (to which Jackal probably knows the answer, but maybe somebody else does too):

Upon visiting the RCMP website, I note that in English RCMP stands for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (common knowledge). However, the French title is the Gendarmerie royale du Canada. Now, I can't speak French (I'm American after all), but the best translation I would give for this would be the Royal Canadian Military Police (military police is a bit of a misnomer, the proper English term for gendarmerie is gendarmerie and is used when discussing force organization in foreign countries).

Now, certainly the RCMP has acted as a gendarmerie force within its history, but it seems odd that the term "Mounted" has slipped out of the French version. Do the RCMP walk in Quebec? Is there a "mounted" connotation to gendarmerie in French from its original origins that lasts to today (as I said, I don't actually speak French)? Or is this just one of those "That sounds stupid in French" "Oh yeah? Well that sounds stupid in English" conventions?

In short: I know nothing about Canada and am reduced to asking stupid and totally irrelevant questions on the internet. This sums up a great deal of my life.

Comments

[silverjackal]

Good morning! Hopefully this answer is clear, as I was up all night (and outside) so I am tired today.

The French title, Gendarmerie, does indeed refer to military police, but that's because the current R.C.M.P. is a merger of two prior police forces. Previously eastern Canada (including Quebec) was policed by the Dominion Police (founded 1868), who also served as the civilian arm of the Canadian Military Police Corps, and were only "mounted" when necessary, not a mounted force per se. The R.C.M.P. were originally the North-West Mounted Police (founded 1873), and only policed *western* Canada. The Dominion Police and North-West Mounted Police were merged in 1920 to form the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, so the French name hearkens back to the origin of institution in their part of the world. It's got nothing really to do with including or not including "mounted", but does show the history as proper gendarmerie.

Edited again to add that I should have spared you my inane babble and just linked you to an authoratative source.