RECENT POSTS
What was Christopher Columbus’ real name?
Reading time: 5 mins You may find the titular question somewhat redundant – is Christopher Columbus’ name not… Christopher Columbus? The answer is yes and no, and the question [...]
Death by ambiguity: why source text clarity is crucial for precise translation
Reading time: 4 mins You are on a tight deadline and you have a load of documents that need translating. You quickly jot down some text in your native [...]
OLDER POSTS
Inclusive language in medical and pharmaceutical texts
Reading time: 4 mins Euphemisms are part of our everyday language – just think of ‘that time of the month’ for ‘menstruation’. They relieve the force of a word that represents something traumatic, difficult to process, or taboo. Logically, everyone should avoid language that might offend or hurt others, but the real question is where we draw the line. Where is the line between politeness and hypercorrection? How does this work in medical and pharmaceutical [...]
COVID-19 terminology
Reading time: 7 mins Rarely are we able to witness such rapid development of a language, especially of its vocabulary, as we have in the last two years. Terminological development is usually attributed to major technological and cultural changes in society, but every now and then, something affects us so dramatically that it influences our everyday language. The novel coronavirus disease was definitely one such occurrence. For Europeans it started as a far-away virus that [...]
Scope, Cost, and Time: Translating in the Iron Triangle
Reading time: 7 mins Due to strict regulations across life sciences industries, a company cannot compromise on quality, miss deadlines, and risk incurring additional expenses because they have chosen the wrong translation provider. Balancing all these three competing factors in a project no small feat. Quality, time, and money are connected, as visualised for managing translation projects in the Iron Triangle (also known as the Triple Constraint or Project Triangle). As described by Dr Martin [...]
Translation feedback: why and how to give it
Reading time: 5 mins According to Merriam-Webster, feedback is “the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source”. In the translation sector, this essentially means evaluating a translator’s work and, through practical examples, helping them improve, or letting them know they have done a fantastic job. Fellow linguists (in their role as revisers, editors, or proofreaders) can do this, as can translation agency project managers or [...]
Ethics in medical and pharmaceutical translation
Reading time: 5.5 mins Cross-cultural communication is closely connected to social responsibility, a concern shared by most translators and interpreters. To help meaning traverse languages and cultures well, follow industry-specific ethical guidelines. These are a form of social responsibility. Medical interpreters deal with ethical dilemmas in their day-to-day work. When interpreting spoken language in medical environments, interpreters have to be mindful of cultural differences, impartiality, maintaining calm and respect, and many other values. This is [...]
Tone of voice is important in translation
Reading time: 4 mins Every company needs to ensure that its brand is appropriately represented in all its communications. Most companies have a brand guide for this, which describes how their brand should be represented in writing and visually. Typically, this includes company values, logo, colour palette, and typography, examples of appropriate graphics for publications, and tone. Tone of voice is key One of the most important aspects of communicating a brand is tone of [...]
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