Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
contact for/to micro-current
English answer:
microcurrent contact (suitable for use with microcurrents)
Added to glossary by
Ken Cox
Mar 25, 2005 13:19
19 yrs ago
English term
Italy
technical translation specialist
Native in: Italian 
Works in: English to Italian, German to Italian, French to Italian, and 2 more.
contact for/to micro-current
English
Tech/Engineering
Electronics / Elect Eng
air conditioning, control system
"For input, use the contact to micro current. (12VDC, 1mA max.)"
"For input, use a contact for microcurrent. (12V DC, 1mA max.)"
...the original text is a translation from Japanese and these two sentences show that the use of preposition is "uncertain" - do you think it may be a "contact suitable for microcurrents"
"For input, use the contact to micro current. (12VDC, 1mA max.)"
"For input, use a contact for microcurrent. (12V DC, 1mA max.)"
...the original text is a translation from Japanese and these two sentences show that the use of preposition is "uncertain" - do you think it may be a "contact suitable for microcurrents"
Responses
| 4 +2 | microcurrent contact |
Ken Cox
|
| 2 | could mean two different things |
JeffFish (X)
|
Responses
+2
16 mins
Selected
microcurrent contact
I'd say they're the same, just erratic translation. Jeff has a point, but it could be that one of the items has only one microcurrent contact input and the other has several.
If you change this to 'microcurrent contact', you eliminate the preposition issue and get better English in the bargain. As an aside, since you're translating this text it might be advisable to do a bit of googling with a few relevant additional terms to see whether 'microcurrent' is commonly used in this context (in English and the equivalent in your target language).
If you change this to 'microcurrent contact', you eliminate the preposition issue and get better English in the bargain. As an aside, since you're translating this text it might be advisable to do a bit of googling with a few relevant additional terms to see whether 'microcurrent' is commonly used in this context (in English and the equivalent in your target language).
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks also to JeffFish"
6 mins
could mean two different things
Unless the original translator was totally incompetent (which we can't rule out, it looks like sentence one is describing a specific contact for microcurrent (note use of the definite article), while the second one implies several possible contacts for microcurrent (indefinite article).
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Note added at 10 mins (2005-03-25 13:29:12 GMT)
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sorry, add closing parethesis after \"rule out\" :-/
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Note added at 28 mins (2005-03-25 13:47:59 GMT)
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Hmmm. I speak a little Spanish, so I understand your dilemma. All the conscientious translator can do in this case is translate what\'s there (whether it\'s the contact *to* microcurrent or *for* microcurrent) and ask the customer when you\'re done.
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Note added at 10 mins (2005-03-25 13:29:12 GMT)
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sorry, add closing parethesis after \"rule out\" :-/
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Note added at 28 mins (2005-03-25 13:47:59 GMT)
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Hmmm. I speak a little Spanish, so I understand your dilemma. All the conscientious translator can do in this case is translate what\'s there (whether it\'s the contact *to* microcurrent or *for* microcurrent) and ask the customer when you\'re done.
Discussion