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Subject:RE: Number/Figure From:eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 21 May 2002 11:17:16 -0400
Sorry, but I have no desire to get into a battle of quoting dictionaries.
Dictionaries a chock full of words that people never use and definitions that
are not necessarily in practical use. That's why I would follow the suggestion
of many on techwr-l, use a translator whose mother tongue is the target
audience. They'll know what the current and common uses are. The translator's
job is to get it right in the target language. The original writer and editor
have the responsibility to get it right for the original language and audience.
Perhaps if the document was being localized "Figure" may need to be used.
Granted I write mostly for a US audience, but if I was talking to my friends
(I'm in Montreal) and asked them to write a figure, I'd get blank stares in
response. Ask any preschooler what the characters 0 through 9 are and you'll get
one quick response: "Numbers!". Perhaps the Brits would reply figures, but it's
been a long time since I've been there.
As a bilingual anglophone in Quebec, I would not trust the Quebec government for
English translations nor for any information concerning the state of English
usage in Canada. As for a European source, it's of questionable/little use for
North American usage. Besides in both cases you're looking at a word by word
translation and not at usage or context.
Eric L. Dunn
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