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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Stewart king (talk | contribs) at 17:17, 30 December 2021 (Military uses of the term). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Wow... SchnitzelMannGreek's aggressive attack robot does not allow me to translate the term. Apparently, shi* is a no-no. But if you asked any French person what System D means, they would use that word! I appreciate anti-vandalism efforts here, but sometimes they can be a bit over-zealous.

Trying to add reference for last sentence referring to underground economy.

"Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy" by Robert Neuwirth, ISBN 978-0375424892

Also, an article interview with Neuwirth which explains the System D in an economic sense. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/12/mf_neuwirth_qa/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeremymclain (talkcontribs) 20:01, 23 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

huh?

After reading the first two sentences of this article one has no idea what it's about. The third sentence begins to hint at it, but only hint. Michael Hardy (talk) 20:15, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Sparkie82 (tc) 17:29, 25 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

git 'er done

look, if we're pitching English equivalents, "git er done" seems just as valid as "to hack it." 65.118.97.26 (talk) 12:54, 3 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Helping the Résistance

I spent a month in France in each of two years, 1959 and 1960, in the home of my French correspondant who was my age, 17 and then 18. His father explained to me in detail what Système D was. It was something that developed during the Occupation. Any patriotic Frenchman, on seeing an opportunity of putting a spanner in the works without getting caught, would do so, as long as it inconvenienced the German invaders at least as much as the French. Système D was short for Système de brouillage. Brouillage means jamming or interference and that's exactly what my friend's father described. He would have known how to jam up the French railiway system as, at least by 1959, he was the stationmaster of a major goods yard. Why Système D then? Perhaps it originally meant “to make do and mend” as is reported here, but the meaning was twisted to its opposite during the War, with the original name kept just to fool any eavesdropping Gestapo. I can't find a source for all this so it's just speculation I suppose. Mike Spathaky (talk) 12:17, 17 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Pournelle frequently references "System D" in his CoDominimum novels, apparently as something the CoDominium Marines inherited from the Foreign Legion. I don't recall any mention of it in the novels set later in his future history. In Pournelle's usage, "System D" is something similar to what you describe here, except it seems to be an unofficially tolerated means of allowing the men to practice tactical flexibility when they can't pay their bar tabs. A contingent of Marines will refuse to pay their bill, start a fight, and the Marines will use their tactical skill to prevent the local constabulary from being able to effectively respond to the incident by multiplying the number of calls beyond their ability to respond effectively.--Masque (talk) 21:17, 20 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Military uses of the term

From my father, who served with the Free French forces in North Africa in 1941-43: the term refers to methods for military personnel to obtain supplies - Système A is getting stuff officially issued to you with receipts and so on. Système B is unofficially getting stuff from supply depots or other units with permission but outside the regulations, Système C is stealing from (ideally) the enemy but if that's not possible, from civilians that we don't care if we piss off, and Système D is stealing from other units in your army or the supply depot. Generally frowned upon. Reference is my father's unpublished memoirs, I imagine this doesn't count by Wikipedia standards. I also remember the Pournelle citation, though what does he know? I think this is an argotisme that has lost currency in France. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stewart king (talkcontribs) 17:15, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]