[Pidgin] #9247: Translation "error" in German UI

Pidgin trac at pidgin.im
Wed May 27 09:18:38 EDT 2009


#9247: Translation "error" in German UI
-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  tretti       |        Owner:  lschiere    
     Type:  translation  |       Status:  new         
Milestone:               |    Component:  unclassified
  Version:  2.5.5        |   Resolution:              
 Keywords:               |  
-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------

Comment(by chemistrydioxide):

 Replying to [comment:6 tretti]:
 > I'm sorry for posting a duplicate bug, but this really shows how totally
 hillarious it is not to translate an English word into German! Even when
 there is an appropriate translation, that everyone will understand.

 There are good reasons for using anglicisms in some (but not all)
 contexts. I think that "Buddy" is OK in this context, just as I'd prefer
 "Einen VCS-Branch in einen anderen mergen" over "Einen VCS-Branch mit
 einem anderen zusammenführen" while I rather say "Rechner" than
 "Computer".

 Replying to [comment:7 bjoernv]:
 > It's true, that "Buddy" is still not listed in the Duden. But it became
 a very common and often used word in the domain of instant messaging. One
 result of the discussion in [https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source
 /language-pack-de-base/+bug/108613] is, that the only alternative for
 "Buddy" is "Kontakt".
 >
 > If we use the alternative word "Kontakt", the main window title of
 Pidgin has to be changed from "Buddy-Liste" to "Kontaktliste". Lets Google
 for this words - please click the "Seiten auf Deutsch" option:
 >
 > "Buddy-Liste": around 1040000 hits
 > "Kontaktliste": around 1560000 hits
 >
 > This is not a big difference.
 >
 > I think, changing something like the title of a program and renaming
 lots of menus, dialogs etc. should not be done without very good reasons.
 >
 > Another problem is, that Pidgin uses the words "contact" and "buddy"
 together in the original English version. If the Germans would use
 "Kontakt" for both, we will loose the distiction.

 bjoernv: I agree with you. In addition to that, many hits for
 "Kontaktliste" are probably not IM-related, so "Buddy" is in fact more
 common than "Kontakt".

 (and by the way, tretti, it's "hi'''l'''arious", not "hi'''ll'''arious".)

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/9247#comment:8>
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