KuDoz: If you guess, confess! Thread poster: Endre Both
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Endre Both 
Germany
Local time: 23:43
English to German
Lately, I\'ve bumped into several plausible answers to Kudoz questions (mainly Tech/Engineering and Bus/Financial) that were put forward in a confident manner, sometimes even backed by a nice explanation. Nevertheless, they soon enough proved to be completely off track  .
Now, I\'m fully aware that an educated guess or even a mistake can help in finding the correct answer. I believe however that it would be beneficial to both... See more Lately, I\'ve bumped into several plausible answers to Kudoz questions (mainly Tech/Engineering and Bus/Financial) that were put forward in a confident manner, sometimes even backed by a nice explanation. Nevertheless, they soon enough proved to be completely off track .
Now, I\'m fully aware that an educated guess or even a mistake can help in finding the correct answer. I believe however that it would be beneficial to both askers and respondents (and their standing at Proz) if guesses were clearly identified as such. Likewise, if you agree with a plausibly sounding answer without positively KNOWING it is correct, it would be fair to qualify your agreement (\"sounds good\", \"references are convincing\", whatever...).
And before anyone shouts hypocrisy: I\'m afraid I\'ve been guilty of one or two unidentified guesses myself during my short presence here  . After all, what I find most irritating in others are my own weaknesses... I\'m trying to improve.
Endre ▲ Collapse
| | | | AndrewBM
Ireland
Local time: 22:43
Spanish to English
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| No doubt whatever | Apr 6, 2002 |
All guess either educated or ignorant must be clearly labeled. Confidence bar on top of each answer isn\'t there for nothing either.
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| | | | John Kinory (X)
Local time: 22:43
English to Hebrew
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Hi Endre,
Absolutely! And sometimes highly technical questions are answered by people with no experience in that field, often completely off-beam, with no references but with a high degree of confidence claimed. And I\'ll add this, since you say you are new-ish: often, the answer is given by people with no translating background/qualifications in that language-pair.
[addsig]
| | | | David Rockell (X)
Chinese to English
I sometimes wonder about any answer with a 100% confidence rating. Can anyone be 100% certain about anything? (especially now in times of the reversal of Mickey and Machiavelli).
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3 in 1
Local time: 23:43
French to German
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| Agree, Agree, Agree | Apr 7, 2002 |
AGREE.
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 23:43
Spanish to English
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| Agree, but... | Apr 7, 2002 |
Sometimes the question is not well-contexted (when it is part of a series of questions, the asker sometimes takes for granted that the particular answerer reads his other postings, i.e., the long story behind the last one). Recently, there was the case of \"hacer efectivo (en Banco X)\", which 3 financial experts interpreted to mean \"cash\" when (in Spain, anyway) it is a euphemism for \"pay\". The asker was a newcomer who had avowed he wasn\'t professional (i.e., the difference wasn\'t obvious... See more Sometimes the question is not well-contexted (when it is part of a series of questions, the asker sometimes takes for granted that the particular answerer reads his other postings, i.e., the long story behind the last one). Recently, there was the case of \"hacer efectivo (en Banco X)\", which 3 financial experts interpreted to mean \"cash\" when (in Spain, anyway) it is a euphemism for \"pay\". The asker was a newcomer who had avowed he wasn\'t professional (i.e., the difference wasn\'t obvious to him) and was only doing someone a favor. So you can\'t blame either the asker or the answerer, just warn the former he had chosen the wrong thing. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 23:43
Spanish to English
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| Produce evidence, if you want credibility! | Apr 7, 2002 |
I pay more attention to answers that produce evidence from websites, otherwise I check answers, I\'m a bit \'desconfiada\', I\'m afarid!
| | | | John Kinory (X)
Local time: 22:43
English to Hebrew
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| Damned if you do, damned if you don't | Apr 7, 2002 |
Quote:
On 2002-04-07 14:32, Parrot wrote:
Sometimes the question is not well-contexted (when it is part of a series of questions, the asker sometimes takes for granted that the particular answerer reads his other postings, i.e., the long story behind the last one). Recently, there was the case of \"hacer efectivo (en Banco X)\", which 3 financial experts interpreted to mean \"cash\" when (in Spain, anyway) it is a euphemism for \"p
... See more Quote:
On 2002-04-07 14:32, Parrot wrote:
Sometimes the question is not well-contexted (when it is part of a series of questions, the asker sometimes takes for granted that the particular answerer reads his other postings, i.e., the long story behind the last one). Recently, there was the case of \"hacer efectivo (en Banco X)\", which 3 financial experts interpreted to mean \"cash\" when (in Spain, anyway) it is a euphemism for \"pay\". The asker was a newcomer who had avowed he wasn\'t professional (i.e., the difference wasn\'t obvious to him) and was only doing someone a favor. So you can\'t blame either the asker or the answerer, just warn the former he had chosen the wrong thing.
Yes, indeed. But I have been flamed both for pointing out obvious mistakes made by people who should not be answering those questions in the first place (\'Native speakers don\'t know everything, Mr Know-all\'); and for failing to do so (\'Mistakes in the glossary are entirely the fault of native speakers who did not point them out at once\').
As to websites: there are thousands of sites written by non-native speakers, using completely wrong and non-idiomatic terminology. Use the Web at your peril: anyone can post a page, whether or not they know the first thing about the subject. A good dictionary in the hands of a professional, whilst not infallible, is far more reliable.
_________________
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-04-08 17:33 ] ▲ Collapse
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