[Mageia-discuss] Contributing Howto : need help

Hoyt Duff hoytduff at gmail.com
Thu Feb 10 17:27:22 CET 2011


On 2/10/11, Robert Wood <robert.wood at apostrophe.co.uk> wrote:

>
> In the case of libre, I believe it used to be a word commonly used in
> English, but fell out of fashion. I suppose liberate and liberty are the
> closest derived words commonly in use.
>

In the US, the only common use of libre is in the name of a cocktail,
"Cuba Libre" (it's rum and cola). "Free" is commonly understood to
refer to price or cost without additional context. "Freedom" is more
akin to liberty and the concepts evoked by the European use of
"libre".


For example, when I introduce LibreOffice to people unfamiliar with
FOSS, they first associate it with the alcoholic beverage Cuba Libre
and are confused  -- "Is this a drinking game? I can't use that at
work."  Dismissing them as uninformed is pointless since it's a matter
of context, not intelligence.


So yes, some additional context is required for an English translation
because in this instance, libre is a mostly European-centric idiom.
You must write for and to your audience in order for it to be
effective.


As for precision in one language versus another, any language can be
precise within its own community. Translation renders any argument
about precision moot.

-- 
Hoyt


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