Correct usage of "Chef" not meaning Cook

Recently my condominium association hired a head concierge and made business cards for him with the designation "Chef Concierge." I said that was incorrect, that it should say either "Concierge en chef" or "Chef des concierges" or else simply Chief Concierge. In looking it up on the Internet, I find that some American hotels do indeed use "Chef Concierge," which sounds wrong to my ear. So, is my ear out of whack and Chef Concierge is proper?

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on August 2, 2011 at 3:53am

I confess I'm not sure where the trend started, but it is not so uncommon to create this type of job title using "chef" plus an adjective/noun. But your version "concierge en chef" is also fine -- it's really a question of style/preference, and whether (I suppose) you want to highlight the word "chef". For example, the following exist as alternatives:

"chef administrateur" ~ "administrateur en chef"

"chef accessoriste" ~ "accessoriste en chef"

"chef ambulancier" ~ "ambulancier en chef"

"chef analyste" ~ "analyste en chef"

...

I confess that saying e.g. "chef analyste" to me sounds a bit like "I'm going to make such a big fuss about being a 'chef' that the Actual Job That I Do isn't important". But I suppose people's opinions/penis sizes differ...