Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

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Technical Communication 
Euphemisms 
Euphemisms are figures of speech which are used to describe things using 
milder, less unpleasant terms. They are generally used to soften or lessen the 
impact of harsh or unpleasant words or ideas. Euphemisms are frequently 
longer words or phrases and their meaning or relation to the actual object 
or action being referred to is less than obvious. 
The problem with euphemisms is that while they are often quite clever, 
creative, linguistically interesting and occasionally amusing, they obscure 
meaning, confuse readers and generally make the text less accessible. In ad-
dition, because of their size, they make the text longer and more cluttered 
(Mancuso 1990:191). 
Neologisms 
Neologisms are, according to Mancuso (1990:197), the work of “arrogant” 
authors who like to create new words. Mancuso continues by saying that 
these newly created words are generally only understood by the author and 
a few others and they confound most readers. Admittedly, such a view is 
quite extreme and occasionally neologisms are necessary; they should, how-
ever, be used sparingly. 
Acronyms and Abbreviations 
Acronyms and abbreviations can affect the clarity and accessibility of a text 
in much the same way as jargon. Although many computer-related acro-
nyms and abbreviations are becoming more widely known than they used 
to be (Mancuso 
ibid.
), many are not yet in common usage. Thus, according 
to D’Agenais & Carruthers (1985:109), those that are not commonplace 
and understood by everyone should be explained. A popular way of dealing 
with acronyms and abbreviations is to use a glossary which explains them 
(Mancuso 1990:197; D’Agenais & Carruthers 1985:109). 
Of course, clarity can also be affected by the ambiguous use of “ordi-
nary” words. Ambiguity usually arises, according to White (1996:190), as a 
result of one or more of the following problems: 
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Software User Guides & Quality