Re: [OT] Translation issues (was: Re: None)
On Sat, Mar 01, 2003 at 11:59:44PM +0100, Wolfgang Jaehrling wrote:
> I also wonder about that, and even joke about it by exaggerating it
> (e.g. saying `Rueckfuetterung' instead of `Feedback').
That's not exaggeration, that's falsification (and falsification is itself a
falsificated word if you get what I mean).
The correct translation of the word "feedback" is "Rückkopplung" as any good
dictionary will tell you. But in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you find
Feedback in the German Duden, and other German dictionaries. In that sense
Feedback is also a solid and good German word.
> But when there
> is a german term that describes a thing well, I like to use it. And
> `Heimverzeichnis' (which is less widely used, but certainly _is_ used)
> just makes a lot of sense to me, but maybe that's because I'm
> sometimes talking with people who are no geeks.
The only good reason to keep an English term that is not also German is that
it is immediately understood if you can expect the reader to know it
already. In fact, for any technical documentation the most important thing
is that it is understood, I guess. For example, I found some of the translated
words in the translation of Tannenbaums Operating Systems quite annoying.
But worse than the technical terms where the obvious mistakes in the prose,
like "Private" for private instead the correct "Soldat".
Thanks,
Marcus
--
`Rhubarb is no Egyptian god.' GNU http://www.gnu.org marcus@gnu.org
Marcus Brinkmann The Hurd http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/
Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
http://www.marcus-brinkmann.de/
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