English Translation Dictionary
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Tip:For translating more technical vocabulary, it can be helpful to see what Wikipedia uses.
About
This page is primarily intended as a sort of template for other translation dictionaries. It's generally a good idea to include both English and translated versions of the content.
This page is a dictionary of translations of common terms.
Tip:For translating more technical vocabulary, it can be helpful to see what Wikipedia uses.Translated Terms
| British | American | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Archaeology Archæology |
Archeology | |
| Centre | Center | |
| Chips | Fries French Fries |
When referring to thicker-cut, fried potatoes |
| Crisps | Chips | When referring to thin-sliced, fried potatoes |
| Grey | Gray | |
| Honour | Honor | |
| Modelling | Modeling | |
| Mum | Mom | |
| Programme | Program | In most senses other than "computer program," which is the same either way |
| Realise | Realize | |
| Storey | Story | In the sense of building floors |
| Telly | TV |
Transliterated Terms
For languages that don't use the Latin alphabet, it may be useful to include standardized transliterations when translations aren't useful or even possible.
Punctuation Notes
These can vary from country to country; in general, go by the flag used to represent the language.
- Not all languages use capital letters the same way. Spanish doesn't capitalize the first letters of names of languages or days of the week, while German capitalizes the first letter of the subject of a sentence.
- Take note of differences in punctuation.
- It may be useful to take note of date formats.
- Take note of the measurement system(s) used by speakers of the language.
- British English and American English use capital letters in much the same way.
- While American English puts periods, question marks, and most other punctuation within quotes (when there are any), British English generally puts them outside unless they were part of the quoted material.
- For example, when American English says, "this is a sentence," British English says, "this is a sentence".
- American English uses the "serial comma"—i.e., it uses commas after "e.g." and "i.e." and after the second-to-last item in a list. British English does not.
- While not part of the serial comma, "i.e." and "e.g." also tend to be followed by commas in American English but not in British English.
- British English writes short-form dates with the day first, whereas American English writes them with the month first.
- English-speakers use a mix of metric and imperial units, and it's generally a good idea to include both. Americans primarily use imperial measurements, Australians and New Zealanders primarily use metric, and Brits and Canadians use a mixture of both.
Other Translation Notes
- Take note of anything else.
- In general, names (such as Valve or Source) don't need to be translated.