Grugeurs de temps

16:35 Nov 7, 2011 

so let's all do something else.....

16:31 Nov 7, 2011 

Rather ironically, this question is itself "grugeur de temps"!

15:29 Nov 7, 2011 

CONTEXT is essential for questions like this. Merely putting in a phrase in isolation is very unlikely to produce an answer in context or register with the original text. Potential responders cannot "see" the whole document, only the asker can. Please refer to KudoZ rules/suggestions for posting.

14:05 Nov 7, 2011 

Though it is still less than clear from the additional information you have now provided, it looks like it is the activities, rather than people who are the grugeurs de temps. If that is the case, then "time cheats" would certainly not fit. This is a lesson about not wasting time answering questions when inadequate information has been provided.

13:46 Nov 7, 2011 

This is referred in a large document analysing the activities [mainly of an individual] and identifying them as those which are important, urgent or not important/urgent and dealing with suggestions for effectively improving the usage of time. In my opinion, there is no scope for bringing the word "cheat" here

13:29 Nov 7, 2011 

Yes but is this a free-standing title in a document, or part of a longer sentence?
What sort of document is it, and what is the register (level of formality) required?

13:11 Nov 7, 2011 

Under this subject, there are discussions about the ways of identifying and getting alerted by colleagues and others about the loss of time
There is also the following reference "les activités qui consomment du temps". I feel Time wasters may fit in properly as of now. However, I shall await for more appropriate suggestions, if there can be any.

13:08 Nov 7, 2011 

We can't answer this without proper context.

13:07 Nov 7, 2011 

Yes, I suppose being paid to do something and doing nothing is 'cheating' and 'stealing' as much as fiddling ones timesheet or skiving off completely, in the eyes of most 'managers'.

13:05 Nov 7, 2011 

According to Le Grand Robert (which I consider to be a better reference work than wiktionary or free dictionary etc.):
"1 Vx. Réduire en grains. ➙ Égruger.
2 (1660). Vx. Briser avec les dents. Gruger des noisettes, des bonbons. ➙ 1. Croquer. — Par ext. Gober, manger.
1 Perrin fort gravement ouvre l'huître et la gruge (…)
La Fontaine, Fables, ix, 9.

...
II (xviie). Mod. Littér. Duper qqn en affaires; le dépouiller de son bien. ➙ Spolier, 2. voler. Se faire, se laisser gruger. Il s'est laissé gruger par des aigrefins (→ 1. Aigrefin, cit. 1).
2 (…) on nous mange, on nous gruge,
On nous mine par des longueurs (…)
La Fontaine, Fables, i, 21 ..."
Plus various refs from Balzac.

12:43 Nov 7, 2011 

"Gruger" something is a term that I often came across in my school-boy life - I always was under the impression that it was very informal, so I'm surprised to see it in such a context.
Wiki renders the meaning nicely:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gruger
But it can be used in many different ways:
A couple of example sentences:
"Il m'a grugé dans la queue" => "he pushed in front of me in the queue"
"Il m'a grugé un sandwich" => "he nicked my sandwich [when I wasn't looking]"
So basically, it means to con somebody out of something
In this context therefore, I think "time wasting" works very well, and that is probably the translation that I would use.

12:36 Nov 7, 2011 

More context = better answers