Do you use "any old CAT tool"? Thread poster: Neil Coffey
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Neil Coffey 
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:57
French to English
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This has come up before as a sub-issue of other questions but I wanted to raise it again in its own right.
So a potential client has contacted me regarding a job and asked if I used TRADOS. I replied that unfortunately I don't so if that was a requirement I wouldn't be able to help them in this case. They have then got back to me asking if I use *any* CAT tool. This question slightly stumped me: I understand that for workflow reasons, they might require translators to use a *specifi... See more This has come up before as a sub-issue of other questions but I wanted to raise it again in its own right.
So a potential client has contacted me regarding a job and asked if I used TRADOS. I replied that unfortunately I don't so if that was a requirement I wouldn't be able to help them in this case. They have then got back to me asking if I use *any* CAT tool. This question slightly stumped me: I understand that for workflow reasons, they might require translators to use a *specific* CAT tool. But I don't quite understand the rationale behind requiring "any old CAT tool": if it's not that they need a specific one for workflow reasons, then why would they care either way? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 19:57
English to German
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In memoriam | Apparently "Trados" has turned into generic terminoloy | Apr 8, 2011 |
As a synonym for: "Do you use any CAT-tools?"
Just like "Xerox" had turned into the equivalent for any copying machine, "Hoover" = any vacuum cleaner, "Kleenex" = any facial tissue, or in Germany: "Zewa" = any paper towel, "Tempo" = any paper handkerchief, "Tesa" = any adhesive tape, "TippEx" = any white-out fluid, I could go on.
| | | | | Compatibility | Apr 8, 2011 |
I don't use Trados, but I do use Wordfast and still work on "Trados" projects for clients. That's why they ask.
| | | | | Trados Old version is used still | Apr 8, 2011 |
Hi,
Since many of my clients ask for Clean and Unclean files of Trados, I need to use them, though SDL trados laetst version do not have the concept of Clean and Unclean files like its earlier's.
Cheers,
Ragland.
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Emma Goldsmith
Spain
Local time: 04:57
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
| reductions for fuzzies | Apr 8, 2011 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
why would they care either way?
They care because if you have any old CAT tool at all they can offer you any old reductions on fuzzies.
| | | | | At least two valid reasons | Apr 8, 2011 |
I see at least two valid reasons to ask this question:
1. The use of CAT tools ensures consistency of the translation. In technical translations, this is extremely important.
2. Most CAT tools can import or export TMX-formatted TMs. The client may want to give you one or ask you for one.
| | | | Oliver Walter
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:57
German to English
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| Equivalent words | Apr 8, 2011 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
As a synonym for: "Do you use any CAT-tools?"
Just like "Xerox" had turned into the equivalent for any copying machine, "Hoover" = any vacuum cleaner, "Kleenex" = any facial tissue, or in Germany: "Zewa" = any paper towel, "Tempo" = any paper handkerchief, "Tesa" = any adhesive tape, "TippEx" = any white-out fluid, I could go on.
I was also beginning to have that impression, but not as firmly as Nicole. Another example I have noticed is the use of "googling" to mean "using a search engine". (And, I think the French use "ruban scotch" for any adhesive tape - in the UK it's (or was) sellotape.)
There's a list of over 50 such names here:
http://coolrain44.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/brand-names-that-we-call-generic-products/
Oliver
| | | | | Generic terms | Apr 8, 2011 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
As a synonym for: "Do you use any CAT-tools?"
Just like "Xerox" had turned into the equivalent for any copying machine, "Hoover" = any vacuum cleaner, "Kleenex" = any facial tissue, or in Germany: "Zewa" = any paper towel, "Tempo" = any paper handkerchief, "Tesa" = any adhesive tape, "TippEx" = any white-out fluid, I could go on.
In Brazil, "durex" tape is the common name for Scotch tape (US) or sellotape (UK). I was a small boy then, but I have a faint recollection it was the product name 3M used to market it here in the 1950s.
In Portugal, "durex" is the common name for condoms/preservatives, apparently a brand originally imported from the UK.
Try to imagine a Brazilian visiting an office in Lisbon, and requesting some "fita durex" (= durex tape in PT) to seal a package. Backstage, a helpful secretary shoots a condom through the document shredder, trying to turn it into "tape", thinking that Brazilians must be really crazy to use that to seal packages.
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 19:57
English to German
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In memoriam | Incredible! Thanks for the link, Oliver. | Apr 9, 2011 |
The list is truly amazing.
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