| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you follow one particular style guide or authority when writing in your native language? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Mario Chavez (X) 
Local time: 04:05
English to Spanish
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| Interesting take | Apr 25, 2014 |
Christine Andersen wrote: ... Which can be a can of worms! So like others, I tend to be my own authority! I envy my Danish colleagues, who can refer to Dansk Sprognævn/ the Danish Language Council's rules and recommendations, although they are not universally accepted. And I looked in on the Swedish Academy's websites yesterday. Danish clients sometimes ask for an explanation, and then it is useful to be able to quote chapter and verse, as they know that there are mysterious differences between UK and US English. (That is also why some of them pay me to translate instead of writing in Danglish themselves.  ) I have a row of books on my shelf which I refer to about English - my favourites are the Longman Guide To English Usage, Michael Swann, the latest revision of Ernest Gowers' Plain Words (and sometimes the earlier one revised by Donald Fraser!!). But I also have a handy little APA guide and the Chicago Manual for academic friends. Plus a neat little volume on punctuation (RL Trask) which is great for explaining to Danes that there is actually a certain logic behind commas in English!
I didn't know there was Danglish...do they also have danglish participles?
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 04:05
English to Spanish
+ ...
| I dare speak on bespoke | Apr 25, 2014 |
Thanks, Julian, for such a funny comment.
In America, the buzzwords that are making the rounds in corporate America are:
boutique
bespoke
curated (aaargh, I hate this one!)
For Spanish, I go to respected guías de estilo or style guides published by well-known newspapers or news organizations such as Agencia Efe and El País. For technical writing, alas, there is no such thing as a style guide...so I make up my own (I based my mast... See more Thanks, Julian, for such a funny comment.
In America, the buzzwords that are making the rounds in corporate America are:
boutique
bespoke
curated (aaargh, I hate this one!)
For Spanish, I go to respected guías de estilo or style guides published by well-known newspapers or news organizations such as Agencia Efe and El País. For technical writing, alas, there is no such thing as a style guide...so I make up my own (I based my master's thesis on this).
On the flip side, I can tell when a client's reviewer or in-house proofreader/translator is from Argentina: they are such curmudgeons and live in the past. For example, one such reviewer indicated to my project manager that clicar (one of the verbs we have for to click on (as when using a mouse) is incorrrect, and that hacer clic is the right one.
I have honed my skills to a degree that allows me to back up my translations, and my writing preferences against the arguments submitted by less-informed project managers, clients and reviewers. Say what you want about style guides and style books, but when you research your answers well, clients will usually support you. ▲ Collapse
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In the absence of instructions to the contrary, I follow the University of Chicago Manual of Style. I also wrote a 200-page style manual for one of my clients based largely on the CMOS, with minor adjustments.
I have more than 40 style manuals on my shelf. I have read most of them from end to end and they bristle with PostIt notes.
It peeves me when people ignore the rules, claiming that their "style" is just as good. I run into this a lot when I do reviewing. (Right no... See more In the absence of instructions to the contrary, I follow the University of Chicago Manual of Style. I also wrote a 200-page style manual for one of my clients based largely on the CMOS, with minor adjustments.
I have more than 40 style manuals on my shelf. I have read most of them from end to end and they bristle with PostIt notes.
It peeves me when people ignore the rules, claiming that their "style" is just as good. I run into this a lot when I do reviewing. (Right now I'm reviewing a 281-page document written in English by multiple authors, and some of them insist that their English is just fine when actually it's full of errors. ▲ Collapse
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