Topic: US vs UK linguistics question (motorcycle related)

[dmizer]

Just looking for the appropriate UK term to use in a translation.

I translated a Japanese sentence into the following English:
"(product) was developed to improve things like acceleration and shifting."

Since the audience for this text will be customers in the UK, I want to make sure that "acceleration" and "shifting" are correct, and/or understandable and not out of place. I have lurked about these forums and subscribed to the mailing list for many years, and I've picked up more than a few US vs UK English equivalents, but this is not one I recall encountering yet.

I think "acceleration" should probably be "take-off", but I'm not sure that they are direct equivalents or not.

Thanks for your advice!

[SteveD CB500F]

"Acceleration" and "shifting" are generally understood over here.

Assuming that it's a quick-shift product (?), then "take-off" and "up-shifting" would be better.

[dmizer]

Thank you, I sincerely appreciate the input. Since I'm living in Japan, sometimes it's nearly impossible to get good linguistic feedback.

Actually it's more of an overall performance product rather than a quick-shift product which is why I had misgivings about "take-off" in the first place.

Thanks again!

[SteveD CB500F]

If you post a larger portion of the text so that we can get it in context - that's where most problems occur as translators are not always familiar with some of the more arcane meanderings of the language in these "niche" areas.   

[Sam Green Racing]

Just looking for the appropriate UK term to use in a translation.

I translated a Japanese sentence into the following English:
"(product) was developed to improve things like acceleration and shifting."

Since the audience for this text will be customers in the UK, I want to make sure that "acceleration" and "shifting" are correct, and/or understandable and not out of place. I have lurked about these forums and subscribed to the mailing list for many years, and I've picked up more than a few US vs UK English equivalents, but this is not one I recall encountering yet.

I think "acceleration" should probably be "take-off", but I'm not sure that they are direct equivalents or not.

Thanks for your advice!

dmiser, wellcome to the forum.

Translating any language is difficult, you wouldn't believe the problems us Brits have with the Americans and Aussie's. 

Sam.

[tortelvis]

Just looking for the appropriate UK term to use in a translation.

I translated a Japanese sentence into the following English:
"(product) was developed to improve things like acceleration and shifting."

Since the audience for this text will be customers in the UK, I want to make sure that "acceleration" and "shifting" are correct, and/or understandable and not out of place. I have lurked about these forums and subscribed to the mailing list for many years, and I've picked up more than a few US vs UK English equivalents, but this is not one I recall encountering yet.

I think "acceleration" should probably be "take-off", but I'm not sure that they are direct equivalents or not.

Thanks for your advice!

dmiser, wellcome to the forum.

Translating any language is difficult, you wouldn't believe the problems us Brits have with the Americans and Aussie's. 

Sam.

English, motherf**ker! Do you speak it?

[Sam Green Racing]

Sho do mofo

Sam. 

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

D a u m  g o o d  th a n g  e w e  c a m e  t o  t h a  s o u t h  US of A Sa um. N o w  e w e          n o   h o w   t a  s p a k e  ko rect  Anglish.

[BobbyR]

Just looking for the appropriate UK term to use in a translation.

I translated a Japanese sentence into the following English:
"(product) was developed to improve things like acceleration and shifting."

Since the audience for this text will be customers in the UK, I want to make sure that "acceleration" and "shifting" are correct, and/or understandable and not out of place. I have lurked about these forums and subscribed to the mailing list for many years, and I've picked up more than a few US vs UK English equivalents, but this is not one I recall encountering yet.

I think "acceleration" should probably be "take-off", but I'm not sure that they are direct equivalents or not.

Thanks for your advice!

dmiser, wellcome to the forum.

Translating any language is difficult, you wouldn't believe the problems us Brits have with the Americans and Aussie's. 

Sam.

Sam is just taking a pizz. Translators sometimes go over the top with their English, or the more popular and widely spoken American.  

[Sam Green Racing]

I used one of these internet translation machines to translate from English to Dutch to impress one of my Dutch mates on another forum.
When I posted what it had told me, he couldnt understand it.
I put the translation back in to the machine for it to translate what it had given me to see if it could translate it back into English........































it couldn't

Sam.

[dmizer]

Online translations really spit out some crazy junk sometimes, that's for sure. On the other hand, there's software available today that almost makes my job obsolete. Fortunately Japanese is still a difficult language for machines to translate, but it won't be long before my job will look more like a copy editor's.

On the other hand, I think there will always be a need for human translations because of the fluid nature of language.

Keep on keepin' on y'all

[Sam Green Racing]

dmizer, your comand of the English language looks better than mine, are you Japanese?

Sam.

[scunny]

everyone knows we speek good England how it's meant to be spoke, dinnit ya know

[Sam Green Racing]

 

[dmizer]

dmizer, your comand of the English language looks better than mine, are you Japanese?

Sam.

Nope. Born and bred in the U.S. I've always had a passion for motorcycles and mechanics, but I studied English in College. That gives me a rare skill set that was extremely desirable here in Japan, because I can compose a grammatically correct sentence with the right technical terms (for the most part ). I've been living here for about 5 years now, and I love every minute of it. Studied Japanese on my own after I arrived here, and now I can also do translation as well.

[BobbyR]

dmizer, your comand of the English language looks better than mine, are you Japanese?

Sam.

Nope. Born and bred in the U.S. I've always had a passion for motorcycles and mechanics, but I studied English in College. That gives me a rare skill set that was extremely desirable here in Japan, because I can compose a grammatically correct sentence with the right technical terms (for the most part ). I've been living here for about 5 years now, and I love every minute of it. Studied Japanese on my own after I arrived here, and now I can also do translation as well.

You must be in demand. I work for a Japanese company and I have to take the tech documents we receive and translate that into readable English. I also take documents written in English and translate it into American.

[Sam Green Racing]

I also take documents written in English and translate it into American.

 

Sam. 

[SteveD CB500F]

I also take documents written in English and translate it into American.

Not difficult surely?  Just copy/paste into any of Bill Gates' software packages and run spellcheck. It will instantly change all the correct spellings into American spellings for you...   

[BobbyR]

I also take documents written in English and translate it into American.

Not difficult surely?  Just copy/paste into any of Bill Gates' software packages and run spellcheck. It will instantly change all the correct spellings into American spellings for you...   

Actually sometimes that works and sometimes not. They are written by Engineers which makes them unclear in any language. Then they use terms that are no commonly used here, then they use a name for a component or assembly we don't use here. I am always tempted to leave whilst in them, I like the word.

[eldar]

Oh do you mean like the UK's use of "bonnet and boot" to mean HOOD and TRUNK?

[SteveD CB500F]

Oh do you mean like the UK's use of "bonnet and boot" to mean HOOD and TRUNK?

Actually, not as silly as you may at first think.

Bonnet is from the French bonet meaning a type of hat - the "bonnet" is the hat that goes over the engine (just like a "hood")

Boot is also from the French bot meaning an outer cover made of leather or rubber - which the first "boots" were. I would imagine that the Americans preferred something a bit more robust bolted on the back of their cars, so used a "trunk" instead.

Discuss.

[BobbyR]

In my case spellcheck is OK, but the word earth is correct so I have to a automatic change to the word ground. They use the word  Bogies and we use Trucks to describe under car wheel assemblies, and a bunch of other things. Sometimes the stuff is written in one language and professionally translated by someone who uses some sort of Elizabetian English no one uses on other side of the pond anymore.
If you read American books from the 1800s early 1900s, you can see the difference in style and language. BTW, in School exams here in the US, you cannot be marked incorrect for using the UK spelling. Both are considered officially correct.   

[Bob Wessner]

IBTW, in School exams here in the US, you cannot be marked incorrect for using the UK spelling. Both are considered officially correct.   

What's next, no ticket for driving on the wrong side of the road? 

[SteveD CB500F]

you cannot be marked incorrect for using the UK spelling. Both are considered officially correct.   

Same here.

The internet generation all spell in Gates' language anyway.

Our dictionaries even offer both versions.



I hate it!

[tramp]

at least you Brits know how to pronounce schedule