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Suggestion: make "abbreviations/acronyms/symbols" a separate category in 'fields'
Thread poster: writeaway
writeaway
writeaway  Identity Verified
French to English
+ ...
Dec 26, 2006

At present, abbreviations/acronyms/symbols come under 'general, conversation, greetings, letters'. Wouldn't it be better for the KOG if abbreviations/acronyms/symbols were listed as a separate category?
 
RHELLER
RHELLER
United States
Local time: 03:10
French to English
+ ...
great idea! Dec 26, 2006

Being more accurate/precise can only help us in the future!

Happy 2007!
 
Henry Hinds
Henry Hinds  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:10
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
No separate category Dec 26, 2006

I would think that abbreviations/acronyms/symbols should come under whatever field they are associated with, and the more specific, the better.

With such items a very specific context is usually required because co many of them can mean different things depending on context.
 
Amy Taylor
Amy Taylor  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:10
Italian to English
Some sort of change is needed Dec 26, 2006

Perhaps they could still be shown under the appropriate categories, but marked as abbreviations/acronyms. The current search field won't allow a two character search, so someone searching in English isn't able to find "e.g." or "i.e.", for example.

I support the idea!

Amy Taylor
 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 03:10
Dutch to English
+ ...
Agree with Henry Dec 26, 2006

Henry Hinds wrote:

I would think that abbreviations/acronyms/symbols should come under whatever field they are associated with, and the more specific, the better.

With such items a very specific context is usually required because co many of them can mean different things depending on context.


I totally agree with Henry - this makes the most sense and is most likely to result in a helpful answer.
 
Oliver Walter
Oliver Walter  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:10
German to English
+ ...
Yes, with 2-character searching Dec 27, 2006

Tina Vonhof wrote:
Henry Hinds wrote:
I would think that abbreviations/acronyms/symbols should come under whatever field they are associated with, and the more specific, the better.

With such items a very specific context is usually required because co many of them can mean different things depending on context.

I totally agree with Henry - this makes the most sense and is most likely to result in a helpful answer.

And Amy's point is important - the need to be able to search for 2-character abbreviations.
Oliver
 
writeaway
writeaway  Identity Verified
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
why make things more complicated? posts are often listed under wrong field Dec 27, 2006

Surely the simplest solution would be for 'abbreviations etc.' to be a stand-alone category for every language pair. Context will be clear from the question asked.
It's a dream world to think you can find things by field. Too many posts are listed in the wrong one. For example, someone working on a lease agreement may ask a purely automotive term but will post it under 'legal' since it's a legal doc-even though the term itself has nothing to do with legalese. This sort of thing happens a... See more
Surely the simplest solution would be for 'abbreviations etc.' to be a stand-alone category for every language pair. Context will be clear from the question asked.
It's a dream world to think you can find things by field. Too many posts are listed in the wrong one. For example, someone working on a lease agreement may ask a purely automotive term but will post it under 'legal' since it's a legal doc-even though the term itself has nothing to do with legalese. This sort of thing happens all the time on the sites I participate in. This would mean extra editing chores for editors and Mods.
This is why I think abbreviations should just be a stand-alone category. If one has to check an abbreviation, that would be where to look.
And definitely agree with Amy-the 3 letter limit causes headaches when searching for abbreviations-or words with fewer than 3 letters.

[Edited at 2006-12-27 11:41] ▲ Collapse
 
cmwilliams (X)
cmwilliams (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:10
French to English
+ ...
Totally agree Dec 27, 2006

writeaway wrote:

It's a dream world to think you can find things by field. Too many posts are listed in the wrong one. For example, someone working on a lease agreement may ask a purely automotive term but will post it under 'legal' since it's a legal doc-even though the term itself has nothing to do with legalese.


That's why I prefer to use the Proz term search and don't bother with the Glossary. But acronyms and abbreviations are a real problem and don't often come up in searches so I think it would be a good idea to have them as a separate category.
 


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Suggestion: make "abbreviations/acronyms/symbols" a separate category in 'fields'






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