MovieChat Forums > Bad ma ra khahad bord (1999) Discussion > What does 'engineer' mean?

What does 'engineer' mean?

posted 12 years ago by chuck-526
3 replies | jump to latest

I've been under the impression (perhaps flat wrong:-) that "engineer" was an honorific (like "professor" or "doctor", a step up from "Mr.") that originated in the time of the Shah and his father as they tried to yank their country into being "developed". That seems to make sense here, with the honorific "engineer" meaning something like "educated boss-man stranger" ...but I'm not at all certain (except it's clear that as used in the film "engineer" doesn't have the usual U.S. connotations)

What's the real meaning of "engineer"? And why is it used in this film?

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Mehran-kc 8 years ago

Well it's a bit late, but this might be useful for others. You're right to a certain degree. It's very common in Iran to refer to someone who you do not particularly know their name or their profession and they look somehow "well-educated" or "important" as an engineer. If I was responsible for the subtitles, I would have probably used another term like sir just to avoid these kind of confusions.