RE: Choosing the right word: Guidelines for our global audience

["Wroblewski, Victoria" <victoria_wroblewski -at- usr -dot- com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Kate Wilcox
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 11:51 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Choosing the right word: Guidelines for our global audience

This goes beyond the typical spelling differences (color vs. colour) and
clear-cut differences in meanings [jumper (one that jumps) vs. jumper
(dress)]. I'm talking about common English words that have different
connotations to different readers and writers. 

-----

Maybe the question needs to be, who is the end audience?

We do a lot of translations of our documentation, and each language may
have preferences for words/phrases that are not direct translations of
English, but how things are understood by that language's native
speakers.  We write for understanding in US or UK English, and leave it
to the translators to figure out how to say it in other languages.  Our
English docs are for a target US or UK audience or those who understand
US/UK English, while other target audiences get a localised language.

It seems like you have a situation of writers trying to impose *beyond*
straight English, they're trying to apply connotations from their native
language on to English.  If your audience is English speakers in India,
let them have it and re-phrase as they, the speakers you're aiming at,
see fit.  If your audience is English speakers beyond India, I'd stick
with the conventions of US/UK English, or you risk the waters getting
further muddied when a non-English speaker in another country is trying
to make sense of the documentation. 

- V


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