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resp.

English translation: stands for \"respectively\", but \"or\" is meant

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French term or phrase:	resp.
English translation:	stands for \"respectively\", but \"or\" is meant
Entered by:	ian ward

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05:55 Oct 12, 2009

French to English translations [PRO]
Science - Mathematics & Statistics

French term or phrase: resp.

hello, I've several occurrences of the use of this (including the full stop).
e.g. ..... à droite (resp. à gauche)
e.g. ..... x (resp. y)
e.g. ..... réelle (resp. imaginaire)

thanks in advance
Ian

ian ward KudoZ activity Questions: 12 (none open) (1 without valid answers) Answers: 0 France
Local time: 05:40

stands for "respectively", but "or" is meant

Explanation:
I have seen this several times in English scientific documents written by native German speakers. "resp." is the translation of "bzw.", which means, on the one hand, "respectively" and on the other hand, "and/or".
For example, to express things like "f(x) = 0 (1) if x is negative (nonnegative)", I have seen this "resp." appear several times; it is incorrect usage in English that can be traced back to German.

http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t18449.html

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Note added at 1 hr (2009-10-12 07:43:17 GMT)
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To your comment:
No, "resp." should not be kept. It is only current usage among those whose way of writing scientific English (French, etc.) is unduly influenced by German -- and you surely do not want to encourage this incorrect usage. It does not mean "and the same goes for": it means simply "or".

Selected response from:

Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 05:40

Grading comment

thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +4

stands for "respectively", but "or" is meant

Attila Piróth

3 +1

resp.

Lucy-Jane Michel

Answers

30 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

resp.

Explanation:
(resp. left)
(resp. right)
(resp. imaginary)

resp. = with respect to

A Google search gives many thousands of examples of the above in a mathematical context.

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Note added at 31 minutes (2009-10-12 06:26:57 GMT)
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Also X (resp. Y)

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Note added at 53 minutes (2009-10-12 06:49:29 GMT)
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It seems to indicate opposites e.g. real (resp. imaginary) and so on. I guess it might be important in maths - those mathematicians are a strange bunch, after all...!

Reference: http://www.personal.reading.ac.uk/~sis01xh/teaching/CY4C9/AN...
Reference: http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FGMJ%2FGMJ...

Lucy-Jane Michel
France
Local time: 05:40
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks for the quick resp. .... This did occur to me, but it seems quite dumb.... the left with respect to the right?!

Asker: when googling, do you manage to find something where they meaning is quite clear? In fact, I'd googled in French and if I google in English the same abbreviation is used so I'm tempted to leave it as it is ! (any ideas for the other one?) thanks again

Asker: the other one..... I mean "relèvement"

Asker: it's a bit earl in the morning... what I've said is what you've indicated, "resp. right" for example, the same abbreviation - I need a coffee !

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

stands for "respectively", but "or" is meant

Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 05:40
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Hungarian
PRO pts in category: 29

Grading comment

thanks

Notes to answerer

Asker: Hello Attila, how are you? thanks for the explanation (and thanks to Emmanuelle for the link - and, of course, very many many thanks to Mr Polyglot) In the event, as I said to Lucy-Jane, I think I'll keep the resp. even if it is not quite right (it means "and the same goes for" doesn't it), after all, it seems to be current usage in English, French... and whatever else, eh Mr Polyglot?