| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: To find a word when specific knowledge and research isn’t enough, I fall back on: Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "To find a word when specific knowledge and research isn’t enough, I fall back on:".
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| | | | Emma Goldsmith 
Spain
Local time: 01:36
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
| Answer choices | Jun 8, 2013 |
If "intuition" and "guessing" were grouped together
and
"logic" and "common sense" were also grouped together
then there would be room for the missing options:
- ask the client
- ask a subject expert / ask on a terminology forum
| | | | Claire Cox
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:36
French to English
+ ...
Emma Goldsmith wrote:
If "intuition" and "guessing" were grouped together
and
"logic" and "common sense" were also grouped together
then there would be room for the missing options:
- ask the client
- ask a subject expert / ask on a terminology forum
My thoughts entirely....
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Depends on the subject, but simply "guessing" should not be an option! As Emma says,
- ask the client
- ask a subject expert
- ask on a terminology forum
if all this fails (or I am not convinced), as a very last resource, I have, fortunately, access to a group of terminologists...
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| | | I go with Emma and Claire | Jun 8, 2013 |
...because whose logic?
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:36
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam | Admit you're baffled | Jun 8, 2013 |
Agree with Emma, but if all the suggested methods fail, you may just have to put something like "[untraced word]" plus a translator's note with your thoughts about it. Absolutely the last resort, of course.
| | | | jacana54 (X)
Uruguay
English to Spanish
+ ...
Emma Goldsmith wrote:
If "intuition" and "guessing" were grouped together
and
"logic" and "common sense" were also grouped together
then there would be room for the missing options:
- ask the client
- ask a subject expert / ask on a terminology forum
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I mean, isn't that what ProZ is for, by the way? If it's a field I know about (which it should be, it generally is, otherwise I have no business translating a text on the subject), then I generally also have people I can contact in the field. In that case I put the question to them and we talk about it. There is the obvious "ask the client" reflex too.
However, the above are not always possible, and sometimes a text in a field we are familiar with has a passage here or there about ... See more I mean, isn't that what ProZ is for, by the way? If it's a field I know about (which it should be, it generally is, otherwise I have no business translating a text on the subject), then I generally also have people I can contact in the field. In that case I put the question to them and we talk about it. There is the obvious "ask the client" reflex too.
However, the above are not always possible, and sometimes a text in a field we are familiar with has a passage here or there about something new to me. Thank goodness that happens actually, otherwise I'd stagnate! So, when all else fails, I throw it into the ProZ ballpark and see what brainstorming it here can come up with. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 08:36
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Other -- Talk to the author | Jun 8, 2013 |
If I have the chance.
If I have exhausted all my other channels and resources. I will tell the customer what I think it should be under the circumstances and let them sort it out.
Even with 20+ years experience in some fields, I am flummoxed sometimes.
@Ty
Yes. if all else fails, try Vulcan mind melds and get to grips with the source of the problem. 
Small edits
[... See more If I have the chance.
If I have exhausted all my other channels and resources. I will tell the customer what I think it should be under the circumstances and let them sort it out.
Even with 20+ years experience in some fields, I am flummoxed sometimes.
@Ty
Yes. if all else fails, try Vulcan mind melds and get to grips with the source of the problem.
Small edits
[Edited at 2013-06-08 14:06 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-06-08 14:10 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-06-09 00:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:36
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Other: weigh the context | Jun 8, 2013 |
We don't translate words but meanings, which can only be given by context, not just individual words or morphemes.
Consider this example: ESD-preventive wristband. In Spanish it's known simply as antistatic wristband, no acronym or additional words.
Many texts in English, especially written by software engineers and technical writers in the IT industry, are obstreperously redundant. There's always a client who cries wolf or hits the ceiling when the translator “forgot... See more We don't translate words but meanings, which can only be given by context, not just individual words or morphemes.
Consider this example: ESD-preventive wristband. In Spanish it's known simply as antistatic wristband, no acronym or additional words.
Many texts in English, especially written by software engineers and technical writers in the IT industry, are obstreperously redundant. There's always a client who cries wolf or hits the ceiling when the translator “forgot” to translate a word.
Whoever posted this poll question is not thinking like a translator. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Chun Un
Macau
Member (2007)
English to Chinese
+ ...
that's the one thing I trust the most.
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| Unfortunately guessing plays a huge role on Kudoz | Jun 8, 2013 |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
However, the above are not always possible, and sometimes a text in a field we are familiar with has a passage here or there about something new to me. Thank goodness that happens actually, otherwise I'd stagnate! So, when all else fails, I throw it into the ProZ ballpark and see what brainstorming it here can come up with.
Using Kudoz is (or was in any case) a good idea, but nowadays, posting a term on Kudoz is often a matter of simply allowing others to do your guessing for you. People strut and bluff, post 100% confidence and try every trick in the book to 'sell' their answer, even if it's completely wrong and they are answering in a field and/or language they don't master. What's worse, in a couple of my language pairs, the newest trend is to agree with anything posted by a pal, right or wrong.
Before I ask people I trust and know they won't just pull an answer out of the air, I read as much as possible about the term in the source language and try to see if I can come up with a logical translation in English. If that doesn't work out, then I ask reliable translators. And if they too are stumped, then I ask the client or if it's one of those 'don't bother me' agencies, I leave a translator's note.
[Edited at 2013-06-08 15:16 GMT]
| | | | Enrico Zoffoli
Italy
Local time: 01:36
Member (2013)
German to Italian
+ ...
Logic, of course... I'm a philosopher, that's what I've been trained to do
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 17:36
Dutch to English
+ ...
| Logic before research | Jun 8, 2013 |
I use logic before research: what does logic tells me it may mean and can I find that or a related term in the target language. And when all else fails I post a Kudoz question. I know whose answers I can trust.
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