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Meta Is English translation of technical terms on-topic?

Quite often, I find myself knowing the technical term of an electronic component in my native language, but not the proper English term. For example when translating a manual or other technical doc...

3 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Lundin‭  ·  edited 1y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

Question discussion on-topic
#3: Post edited by user avatar Olin Lathrop‭ · 2023-07-26T14:57:40Z (over 1 year ago)
Copied image into question to protect against link rot
  • Quite often, I find myself knowing the technical term of an electronic component in my native language, but not the proper English term. For example when translating a manual or other technical documentation to English, since these terms are far too technical to find in a dictionary.
  • In such situations I tend to do a literal translation, which can end up very strange and often comical "Engrish". (RL anecdote: all capacitors in our inventory system once ended up translated to "condensators", which would be a direct translation from Swedish "kondensator".)
  • Googling the translation can be hard and sometimes you end up with a "good enough" translation that can be understood in English, even though it isn't the correct term.
  • It would therefore be helpful to ask a native English EE what the correct English term is, so that I end up using the correct term.
  • ---
  • Example question, this came up today:
  • What are these called in English?
  • https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1pLUPguOSBuNjy0Fdq6zDnVXa9.jpg
  • The translation I came up with is "cable canal" or alternatively "cable duct". No idea what is most correct.
  • ---
  • Are these kind of questions on-topic? Or might people find them annoying since they are too simplistic?
  • Quite often, I find myself knowing the technical term of an electronic component in my native language, but not the proper English term. For example when translating a manual or other technical documentation to English, since these terms are far too technical to find in a dictionary.
  • In such situations I tend to do a literal translation, which can end up very strange and often comical "Engrish". (RL anecdote: all capacitors in our inventory system once ended up translated to "condensators", which would be a direct translation from Swedish "kondensator".)
  • Googling the translation can be hard and sometimes you end up with a "good enough" translation that can be understood in English, even though it isn't the correct term.
  • It would therefore be helpful to ask a native English EE what the correct English term is, so that I end up using the correct term.
  • ---
  • Example question, this came up today:
  • What are these called in English?
  • <img src="https://electrical.codidact.com/uploads/c9l4e70xl8l6lhc507prt6w6pmf6">
  • (From https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1pLUPguOSBuNjy0Fdq6zDnVXa9.jpg)
  • The translation I came up with is "cable canal" or alternatively "cable duct". No idea what is most correct.
  • ---
  • Are these kind of questions on-topic? Or might people find them annoying since they are too simplistic?
#2: Post edited by user avatar Lundin‭ · 2021-08-09T12:04:30Z (about 3 years ago)
  • Quite often, I find myself knowing the technical term of an electronic component in my native language, but not the proper English term. For example when translating a manual or other technical documentation to English, since these terms are far too technical to find in a dictionary.
  • In such situations I tend to do a literal translation, which can end up very strange and often comical "Engrish".
  • Googling the translation can be hard and sometimes you end up with a "good enough" translation that can be understood in English, even though it isn't the correct term.
  • It would therefore be helpful to ask a native English EE what the correct English term is, so that I end up using the correct term.
  • ---
  • Example question, this came up today:
  • What are these called in English?
  • https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1pLUPguOSBuNjy0Fdq6zDnVXa9.jpg
  • The translation I came up with is "cable canal" or alternatively "cable duct". No idea what is most correct.
  • ---
  • Are these kind of questions on-topic? Or might people find them annoying since they are too simplistic?
  • Quite often, I find myself knowing the technical term of an electronic component in my native language, but not the proper English term. For example when translating a manual or other technical documentation to English, since these terms are far too technical to find in a dictionary.
  • In such situations I tend to do a literal translation, which can end up very strange and often comical "Engrish". (RL anecdote: all capacitors in our inventory system once ended up translated to "condensators", which would be a direct translation from Swedish "kondensator".)
  • Googling the translation can be hard and sometimes you end up with a "good enough" translation that can be understood in English, even though it isn't the correct term.
  • It would therefore be helpful to ask a native English EE what the correct English term is, so that I end up using the correct term.
  • ---
  • Example question, this came up today:
  • What are these called in English?
  • https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1pLUPguOSBuNjy0Fdq6zDnVXa9.jpg
  • The translation I came up with is "cable canal" or alternatively "cable duct". No idea what is most correct.
  • ---
  • Are these kind of questions on-topic? Or might people find them annoying since they are too simplistic?
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Lundin‭ · 2021-08-09T12:01:24Z (about 3 years ago)
Is English translation of technical terms on-topic?
Quite often, I find myself knowing the technical term of an electronic component in my native language, but not the proper English term. For example when translating a manual or other technical documentation to English, since these terms are far too technical to find in a dictionary.

In such situations I tend to do a literal translation, which can end up very strange and often comical "Engrish". 

Googling the translation can be hard and sometimes you end up with a "good enough" translation that can be understood in English, even though it isn't the correct term.

It would therefore be helpful to ask a native English EE what the correct English term is, so that I end up using the correct term.

---

Example question, this came up today:

What are these called in English?  
https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1pLUPguOSBuNjy0Fdq6zDnVXa9.jpg

The translation I came up with is "cable canal" or alternatively "cable duct". No idea what is most correct.

---

Are these kind of questions on-topic? Or might people find them annoying since they are too simplistic?