Looking back at the original request, it was to translate the phrase "Copy file XXX to your Applications folder", no mention of "into". Pete
On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 6:24 AM, Francis Nugent Dixon <effe...@wanadoo.fr>wrote: > Hi from Beautiful Brittany, > > Klaus, I would hate to be pedantic, but I can't miss > adding my 2 cents. > > Dictionnaries exist to clearly define the meaning > of a word or phrase in another language. But the > translations, based upon the etymology of the terms > in these languages are often betrayed by the personal > interpretations of the users. If we can try and forget the > environment of our computer translation (files, folders, > disk drives, et tutti quanti), we can try to home in on > best best translation available for a specific language. > > The French language (to my knowledge) lacks the > precise equivalent of the English "into" (which > means "from the outside of ... to the inside of ..."). > So may we fall into the trap of personal interpretation ! > > The French "a" denotes location only, but gives little > information concerning the direction, and even less > about the subtleties of "inside" or "outside". > I find it to be the worst possible translation. > > The French "dans" means "in" or at best "inside", > and has no implication of the 'into" I show above. > However, I find it a better solution than "a". > > The French "sur" implies "lying on top of" and > certainly does not imply "inside". Much depends on > the personal interpretation. As a long-standing > "nit-picker" I would never use this. > > The French "vers" means "in the direction of", which > I find to be acceptable in the translation you request, > because it simply skips over the notion "inside", (but > nevertheless implies it (The idea of copying a file to > the "outside" of a folder would be nonsense !). > But then again, this can be personal interpretation. > > These comments in no way undermine the scope of the > French language, which can be so powerful in many areas. > > .. et a la fin de l'envoi, je touche .! (French Fencing term) > > -Francis > > ______________________________**_________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your > subscription preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/**mailman/listinfo/use-livecode<http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode> > > -- Pete Molly's Revenge <http://www.mollysrevenge.com> _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
