{"id":227,"date":"2016-01-25T12:32:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T07:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/blog\/?p=227"},"modified":"2016-03-01T18:43:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T13:13:08","slug":"the-case-for-translation-consistency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/the-case-for-translation-consistency\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case For Translation Consistency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever noticed how movie producers will take liberties with film sequels and remakes? One director may film Batman as dark and brooding while another shoots him as a suave and debonaire lady’s man.<\/p>\n

Different actors also make a difference. Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig have all played James Bond. Each time, Bond was a slightly different character.<\/p>\n

While there may be some things that get “lost in translation” from film to film, imagine if it was not just the nuances that were different, but the names or positions.<\/p>\n

Consider a James Bond series where the main character’s name changed each time. Or, perhaps Bond didn’t just work for MI6, but worked for a different agency in each installment. This could get truly confusing. Even so, this is exactly what happens during the translation of many technical manuals and guides.<\/p>\n

Granted, it is probably not intended that way, and in the source language the discrepancies might be virtually unnoticeable. Yet, when translated, if the discrepancies are not caught and fixed, the audience could be left confused and frustrated.<\/p>\n

Think about how many words you know for an automobile. You could say car, truck, van, ride, Honda, Toyota, Chrysler, auto, automobile, vehicle, SUV, and so forth.<\/p>\n

If you were writing a technical guide for one of these vehicles, however, you would want to choose one term and stick with it throughout the text, and in future manuals, guides, or texts you would want to remain consistent. While these words may be virtually interchangeable in English, they are not in every language, and some of them might not even exist in your target language. In this case, your translator would have to decide how to best translate the word for you. They might choose wrong.<\/p>\n

Issues that Complicate Translation Consistency<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is not just the inconsistent use of terminology within a text or text series that creates ambiguity. There are other factors that may come into play as well. Consider:<\/p>\n