KudoZ - consider basing your answers on more than a dictionary/web search Thread poster: Alexandru Pojoga
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In great gratitude for the countless occasions when my invaluable and immeasurably superior colleagues have helped me out,
--- that notwithstanding ---
I still have to say, think twice before answering a KudoZ question. It\'s safe to assume that the asker has already tried Google and the mainstream online dictionaries.
These days, one might feel the internet makes one a specialist in any area; some restraint is still advised; the tru... See more In great gratitude for the countless occasions when my invaluable and immeasurably superior colleagues have helped me out,
--- that notwithstanding ---
I still have to say, think twice before answering a KudoZ question. It\'s safe to assume that the asker has already tried Google and the mainstream online dictionaries.
These days, one might feel the internet makes one a specialist in any area; some restraint is still advised; the truly expert answer might be lost in the noise we generate. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ralf Lemster 
Germany
Local time: 02:14
English to German
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| Er... what exactly is your point? | Jul 30, 2002 |
I read your post earlier today and couldn\'t really tell what the point was... the fact that no one has responded would indicate that I\'m not the only one... 
Quote:
It\'s safe to assume that the asker has already tried Google and the mainstream online dictionaries.
I\'m afraid that doesn\'t appear to be the case - as far as I can tell in DE>EN ... See more I read your post earlier today and couldn\'t really tell what the point was... the fact that no one has responded would indicate that I\'m not the only one...
Quote:
It\'s safe to assume that the asker has already tried Google and the mainstream online dictionaries.
I\'m afraid that doesn\'t appear to be the case - as far as I can tell in DE>EN and EN>DE, people keep posting terms which they could research in online dictionaries. But that\'s ok, since these sources are not always reliable.
Quote:
These days, one might feel the internet makes one a specialist in any area; some restraint is still advised; the truly expert answer might be lost in the noise we generate.
Again, can you please expand on the point you\'re trying to make?
Thanks, Ralf ▲ Collapse
| | | | | if all you can give is a dictionary answer, think twice | Jul 30, 2002 |
It seems to me that Alexander is asking people to think twice before simply posting dictionary answers to questions. The asker should already have done dictionary research, so you may be adding nothing new, and detracting from answers that may be based on personal experience or firsthand knowledge.
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I think I do know what Alexandru is saying. At least in my language pairs, it\'s all too frequent to get answers in which it is obvious that the answerer has just plugged the first thing he/she could think of into Google. Since you\'re bound to find almost anything you\'re looking for in Google, these people have an answer for everything. To add insult to injury , they often paste the whole page of Google results, without looking into each link to ... See more I think I do know what Alexandru is saying. At least in my language pairs, it\'s all too frequent to get answers in which it is obvious that the answerer has just plugged the first thing he/she could think of into Google. Since you\'re bound to find almost anything you\'re looking for in Google, these people have an answer for everything. To add insult to injury , they often paste the whole page of Google results, without looking into each link to see whether they are even relevant to the question. I have opened some of these links only to find, for example, sites in Portuguese (it\'s similar enough to Spanish). One of the benefits of doing these, for these colleagues, is that they cover the whole screen with so many links, and even if they are not relevant, nobody gets to see the answers that come after that one. These being usually the first answers, they get many agrees, if only from people who had thought up the same answer but got there too late. This is something that has changed for the worse with the possibility of adding comments (which in general is a good idea): I\'m tired of seeing people who answer first, providing just the answer, and have the cheek to add \"be back soon with references for you!\" Next thing you know they have added comment after comment, many times just pasting meaningless Google searches.
So, back to the subject of Google, I agree with what I think is Alexandru\'s point: providing just Google references is underestimating the asker. I, for one, sometimes even check who\'s answering before posting a question, and if it\'s not urgent and I see that this is the kind of answer I\'m likely to get, I wait for a better moment.
Thanks for listening to my adventures in KudoZland...
Andrea
PS: Perhaps coop would be a better place to discuss this?
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-07-30 16:07 ] ▲ Collapse
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tazdog (X)
Spain
Local time: 02:14
Spanish to English
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| agree 100% with Andrea.... | Jul 30, 2002 |
...but then again, maybe it\'s because we have the same language pairs. There are a lot of worthless (but very fast!) answers in the Spanish-English-Spanish KudoZ questions with completely irrelevant and often ludicrous references tacked on. When I post a question, I\'d rather not get an answer at all than have to weed through garbage and then feel obliged to reward this practice in the form of points. Also irritating are the \"just a guess\" (read that, \"clueless\") answers that are offered... See more ...but then again, maybe it\'s because we have the same language pairs. There are a lot of worthless (but very fast!) answers in the Spanish-English-Spanish KudoZ questions with completely irrelevant and often ludicrous references tacked on. When I post a question, I\'d rather not get an answer at all than have to weed through garbage and then feel obliged to reward this practice in the form of points. Also irritating are the \"just a guess\" (read that, \"clueless\") answers that are offered within the first few minutes. Uneducated guesses are no help at all.
Just my two cents\' worth. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nikki Graham
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:14
Spanish to English
| Andrea and Cindy - agree totally | Aug 2, 2002 |
You have said what I\'ve wanted to say often. Thanks for making me feel less lonely!
On the other hand (back to the original point), we don\'t have all the dictionaries there are on our shelves, and a ref from a dictionary we don\'t have can obviously be extremely useful.
And sometimes with Google searches, you can get blocked, not have a bright idea, and therefore not type in a magic word that may just lead to the answer.
And perha... See more You have said what I\'ve wanted to say often. Thanks for making me feel less lonely!
On the other hand (back to the original point), we don\'t have all the dictionaries there are on our shelves, and a ref from a dictionary we don\'t have can obviously be extremely useful.
And sometimes with Google searches, you can get blocked, not have a bright idea, and therefore not type in a magic word that may just lead to the answer.
And perhaps at other times, the obvious can be staring you in the face, but you just don\'t see it.
Anyway, just some ideas.
There\'s always two sides to every story ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Kudoz a free entry to pay-for dictionaries? | Sep 16, 2002 |
Many answers on the EN>FR and FR>EN forum are essentially or simply extracted from Termium.
I would not like the idea of Kudoz points being simply the reward of a Termium subscription, nor of the Terminology help being simply a free interface for those who do not wish to pay for the Termium subscription.
In my opinion, Termium being a paying dictionary, I do never quote anything from it in an answer, but this is a personal behaviour, others could have a ... See more Many answers on the EN>FR and FR>EN forum are essentially or simply extracted from Termium.
I would not like the idea of Kudoz points being simply the reward of a Termium subscription, nor of the Terminology help being simply a free interface for those who do not wish to pay for the Termium subscription.
In my opinion, Termium being a paying dictionary, I do never quote anything from it in an answer, but this is a personal behaviour, others could have a different opinion.
Knowing the subject and understanding the question and answer is for me a better way to help than having the proper dictionary or subscription, but this is also a personal opinion.
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| | | | John Kinory (X)
Local time: 01:14
English to Hebrew
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| Paying for the answer | Sep 18, 2002 |
Quote:
On 2002-09-16 14:18, Didier Fourcot wrote:
In my opinion, Termium being a paying dictionary, I do never quote anything from it in an answer, but this is a personal behaviour, others could have a different opinion.
And if you had an expensive dictionary on your bookshelf, would you also refuse to quote from it to help a colleague? In that case, I\'m not sure why you are answering Kudoz q... See more Quote:
On 2002-09-16 14:18, Didier Fourcot wrote:
In my opinion, Termium being a paying dictionary, I do never quote anything from it in an answer, but this is a personal behaviour, others could have a different opinion.
And if you had an expensive dictionary on your bookshelf, would you also refuse to quote from it to help a colleague? In that case, I\'m not sure why you are answering Kudoz questions in the first place.
I own a selection of good dictionaries, and try to research everything on Eurodicautom and do a general Google search before posting a question in Ger>Eng. But there are many other dictionaries, and I appreciate all who help me when I am stuck. Especially in science and engineering, new terms constantly appear and it\'s very difficult to keep buying expensive updated paper dictionaries: and no one dictionary covers all terms, anyway. For example, Routledge is very good on mechanical engineering and quite good on optics, but not always very impressive in other areas. So where\'s the harm in colleagues looking up terms in their own favourite sources?
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[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-09-18 13:48 ] ▲ Collapse
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Nathalie M. Girard, ALHC (X)
English to French
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| I agree with John | Sep 18, 2002 |
Good morning,
I agree with John.
I will search in all the databases available to me (whether the information comes from my paper dictionaries, my cd-roms and online, including my membership to Termium Plus if I find the most helpful answer there!).
The goal is to help someone get through a sticky translation...
We can\'t all afford to acquire every single dictionary or database on this planet  ... See more Good morning,
I agree with John.
I will search in all the databases available to me (whether the information comes from my paper dictionaries, my cd-roms and online, including my membership to Termium Plus if I find the most helpful answer there!).
The goal is to help someone get through a sticky translation...
We can\'t all afford to acquire every single dictionary or database on this planet 
Have a great day!
Nathalie ▲ Collapse
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