Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Oct 27, 2015:

Das stimmt! :-)

Regina Eichstaedter Oct 27, 2015:

Jetzt haben wir alle wieder was dazu gelernt... :-)

Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Oct 27, 2015:

Guten Morgen in die Runde! Gerade kam die flapsige Antwort des Kunden hereingeflattert:
„das können wir flott aufklären: ist Platzhalter-Blindtext“

Regina lag also mit ihrer zweiten Vermutung völlig richtig! Vielen Dank an alle für die lebhafte Diskussion und eure Beiträge/Kommentare.

Daniel Arnold (X) Oct 26, 2015:

@Amorel - it's more a question of whether you have a better suggestion than to make it a competition for better references. I stand by my answer because it perfectly fits the context - however as always, there are variations around that my suit better, you are welcome to suggest your own.

Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Oct 26, 2015:

Thanks a lot … for all your interesting comments and suggestions so far. The client hasn't answered yet. But reading the text again I think that Regina could be right with her suggestion of "Technical knowledge", even though the texts says "TKTK". "Technical knowledge" could make sense here. Unfortunately, there isn't enough space in this text field, otherwise I would have copied the whole text for you to read and to get a better understanding (it's just 700 words).

Armorel Young Oct 26, 2015:

@Daniel I don't see a link from you that lists TKTK as an abbreviation of ticky-tacky - you post a link to a phonic spelling dictionary that lets you look up words you can't spell simply on the basis of the sounds you hear, but that is a completely different thing from a list of recognised abbreviations. That same phonic dictionary lists various other words (such as "eutectic" and "tactic") under TKTK, but listing the sounds in words is not the same as listing abbreviations.

Armorel Young Oct 26, 2015:

I can't make anything of the pronunciation of TKTK. I think the placeholder theory remains a candiate - e.g. Wikipedia says

""To come" is a printing and journalism reference, commonly abbreviated to "TK." It is used to signify that additional material will be added at a later date.[1]

TK as an abbreviation may originally have come into use because very few words feature this letter combination. The phrase "to come," by contrast, could potentially be mistaken as a deliberate part of the text."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_come_(publishing)

Regina Eichstaedter Oct 26, 2015:

? Wenn man das als Amerikaner/ Engländer ausspricht, ergibt es dann irgendeinen Sinn? Vielleicht hat der Autor wirklich vergessen, an dieser Stelle ein Wort einzufügen, das mit "relevance" ein "stimmiges" Paar bildet wie art/history, present/future (siehe Kommentar in meiner Antwort)

Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Oct 26, 2015:

Es steht so … im Ausgangstext. Vielleicht ist es ein Tippfehler/Versehen. Ich werde das mal beim Kunden anfragen. Auf alle Fälle schon mal vielen Dank bis hierher!

Regina Eichstaedter Oct 26, 2015:

Ja, dieser Zweifel ist mir auch gekommen... ;-) Meinst du, es handelt sich wirklich um einen Platzhalter?

Armorel Young Oct 26, 2015:

Why would... technical knowledge be TKTK and not just TK?