Choosing the right word: Guidelines for our global audience

[Geoff Lane]

On Monday, October 1, 2007, Wroblewski, Victoria wrote;

> 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.
---

It's not just connotations - some words actually change meanings
between one country that calls its language "English" and another that
calls its similar, but subtly different, language "English". There are
enough differences between the two for American and English to be
distinct, but related, languages - and it's the same story if you
compare almost any two of the languages that call themselves
"English".

For example, in the automotive world many terms change meanings as
they cross the pond. As they move right to left, a "car" becomes an
"automobile", a "boot" becomes a "trunk", a "wing" becomes a "fender",
a "bonnet" becomes a "hood", a "hood" becomes whatever left-pondians
call the roof of a convertible car (or should that be "cabriolet").
Even the infrastructure isn't immune because a "road" becomes a
"pavement", and a "pavement" becomes a "sidewalk". Also, as a gallon
of petrol moves West across the pond it magically grows to become a
gallon and a fifth of gasoline.

Notwithstanding that, Kate's concerns over regional connotations are
valid. I worked for a Canadian company some years ago when my editor
returned my copy with a comment that one module invoking another had
connotations of demonic ritual. She suggested using "summons" instead,
and was shocked at my comment that in UK "to summon" has the same
connotations as "to invoke" seemed to have in Canada, and that a
"summons" was the same as a "subpoena". We ended up using "to call",
thus writing out both terms. Although it sometimes dilutes the
semantics for any one of the target languages, this is probably the
best option where you cannot localise for each.

For example:
US: Make sure you understand the requirements before you begin.
India: Make sure you appreciate the requirements before you begin.

Issue: The Indian writer considered "understand" to be rude. The US
writer considered "appreciate," and its connotation of recognizing
quality, to be too broad.

Rewrite to avoid both terms, e.g. "Ensure you have a good grasp of the
requirements before you begin."

JMHO but HTH,

-- 
Geoff