token

16:08 Dec 30, 2012 

“token de seguridad” 401,000 google hits

“ficha de seguridad” 13,900,000 google hits

Well I’ll be…

15:55 Dec 30, 2012 

The reason I found this old kudoz is because I was about to use the word “token” and felt there had to be a word in Spanish for that, (…there just *HAS* to be…), when I saw this I immediately thought “Yes!” My translation now uses “ficha” and I am certain my client will approve. So don’t let modern populist trends contaminate our languages with slag. Try googling something like “metal slug” (somewhat related to “token”) and I think you will get an eyeful of what is wrong with google’s “brain” circuitry. Google has a long way yet to go before it becomes the final word on linguistic trends.

15:55 Dec 30, 2012 

I know what you mean, but I think google also gives high numbers to a lot of “popular” garbage and nonsense. Something might be popular, but that does not necessarily make it right. Google numbers are useful as a guideline, but they should not be used to determine what should be. “ficha” may not be universally used, but it is universally understood, so I say it is still good.

Also, think in terms of other uses for the word “token” as in “a token of affection” or “token representative” and you can see that it is not always as usable as in “token de seguridad.” Of course, I realize that “ficha” is not readily useable in these cases either, but at least as a *concept* it is closer to “muestra de afecto” or “representante simbólico” than the meaningless (at least in Spanish) “token.” That is what makes me think that “ficha” is better than “token”, in spite of the preference of non-linguist-driven crowd-sourcing.