> >> > - If a group of labels ends with ":" in English, don't > >> > drop the ":" in some of their German translations but not in > >> > others. > >> > >> Ah yes, when there are 20 strings marked fuzzy and you repair > >> one by one, some msgstrings might stay unchanged with the colon left > >> or removed -- part of the revisioning process. > > > >Ideally you'd translate, then install the translations and see how they > >look in the actual UI. If you do that, you'll notice the differences. > > Isn't this the way all translators should work? > Translating without testing/viewing the translation doesn't seem > reasonable to me. At least with some basic testing(install the updated > translation and start the app) most typos and errors can be killed > before anything is committed.
For sure, and you see most strings, but not those on the command line, not the error messages, and you ignore some as well incidentally. > > > >> Though, it sometimes is better to use an individual style for the > >> translations, thus always using the colon or never in contrast to the > >> original strings. In most cases, tooltip texts are concerned where > >> ending them with a regular period is preferrable independently from > >> what the developer chose formerly. > > > >What do you mean by "individual style"? Of course whether to append > >colons or not depends on how it is usually done in your language. And > >that has to be consistent. > > Well, in German we have a pretty clear ruleset for sentences, the most > simple one is S-P-O, "Subjekt-Prädikat-Objekt", if these three criteria > are met, it's a sentence and has to be ended with a full stop. Of > course this is not the only rule but it's pretty good as a base. :) > > > >> > > >> > b) - "Enable" does not mean "einstellen". It means "aktivieren", > >> > "einschalten", "verwenden", "benutzen" or whatever depending > >> > on the context it is used in. > >> > >> Uuh, you can't say that in general. The thing is that sometimes the > >> devs themselves just use *some* string; and the translators have to > >> fix it by choosing the correct words, not the direct translation. Of > >> course, you might still be right; please point to the exact > >> translation then. > > > >It's right, a lot of our English strings could use some improvements. > >But "einstellen" is neutral (it doesn't say whether something is > >going to be activated or deactivated) whereas "enable" clearly is the > >opposite of "disable" and thus explains what it does. > > > Full ACK. > "enable" has never a similar meaning as "einstellen". Contra, but seee other post, I admit its confusing when it can be misunderstood in that very context. But you do it with your favorite music player and other things among "anstellen, aktivieren". > > >> > - "Button" is not "Knopf" - it's "Schaltfläche"! > >> > >> Button is "Knopf". See your given URL, way more translations for > >> "Knopf". Thus, I asked a MAC user how she would translate it. Her > >> first reply was "Knopf". Asked about what to expect from > >> "Schaltfläche", she answered "a wide button", meaning like a toggle > >> button. She later admitted, that Apple might have chosen > >> "Schaltfläche" everywhere, but asked on how to label the OK buttons > >> on the small information dialogs etc, she answered "Knopf" again. So > >> it depends on the context; but in general, "Knopf" is correct, > >> "Schaltfläche" is something different. (Actually, one part of my > >> in-depth examinations at university was usability in real-time > >> systems such as big terminals etc.: Human-Machine Interfaces in > >> Production Environments) > > > >(That doesn't impress me too much. My minor subject at the University > >is all about user interfaces and usability as well.) > > > >Personally, I strongly prefer "Schaltfläche". But I agree that you can > >argue about that. If you check > >http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaltfl%C3%A4che or > >http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafische_Benutzeroberfl%C3%A4che you'll > >not find "Knopf" anywhere. To me it sounds just wrong. > > Full ACK again. > 'Knopf' sucks. It reminds of the buttons I have on my jacket to close > it when I'm freezing :D. And this is where it comes from. You can push it, there's an action. That's actually just the poit why I do not like the toggle button-like "Schaltfläche". Cheers Fabian _______________________________________________ Xfce-i18n mailing list [email protected] http://foo-projects.org/mailman/listinfo/xfce-i18n
