Terminology Management
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is ... the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." (Mark Twain)
In organisations there are often several different terms, designations, appellations and definitions for particular technical terminologies. This situation makes it exceedingly difficult for employees in disparate departments or locations to collaborate efficiently and free from misunderstandings.
Systematic, well-thought-out terminology management sees to it that errors and additional costs due to an inconsistent use of terminology are avoided to the extent possible. Even when this means an initial extra effort and expense – it has dawned on most companies by now that terminology work pays for itself over the long term: through more efficient communication, more precise documentation and lower translation costs – to name just a few of the advantages. Moreover, a uniform terminology contributes to the corporate identity and consequently to a good image of the company. As a service provider we help you to professionally organise the management of your internal terminology – in all the languages that you require it goes without saying.
For technical translations in particular, a consistent terminology in the source texts is decisive when it comes to optimally reducing costs and hours of work. By way of example, design and construction often use different names for components and functions than sales and service. These language differences lead to misunderstandings, the hassle of further enquiry and operating errors, but also to unnecessary additional costs in translation.
You can find further information about terminology work in the Worth Knowing section.
Our Input
In the terminology management sphere, our experts and others will assist you in achieving the following:
- generating terminology lists in the course or a document's translation
- creating terminology guidelines
- editing and creating source language terminology lists
- a workshop on implementing terminology management for the longer term
