As German-English translators we have to deal with numbers, money and currency, and conversions all the time in our translations. Ideally, translators should be very familiar with the ISO currency names and codes for international currencies. But do you know when to use US$ and when to use USD? Do you keep it as it is in the source text or convert it to the most accepted code in your target language? These things should be clarified with your client before the translation is delivered (ideally it should be clarified when the job is assigned) to ensure the client and the end user are happy with the result. When you receive a translation request be sure to read through it carefully and clarify these kinds of things with the client ahead of time.
Every translator who has dealt with business or financial translations knows that a period is used in the U.S. instead of the comma (e.g., US$10,000.00 vs. USD10.000,00). But what about the use of an apostrophe or quotation marks? Do you know what ‘4 or 4″ means? These are a type of shorthand notation that saves the writer from writing a few zeros (and saves space in the text). For the record, ‘4 = 400,000 and 4″=4,000,000,000. On the other hand, if you do not know what these mean you could misunderstand the source text and make a serious mistake that could result in a budget shortfall or bidding error. I recently came across an article by Edith Losa from the May 1995 ATA Chronicle while uncluttering my office (unfortunately the ATA Chronicle is only available online after 2000). It includes an excellent explanation of the various shorthand notations, which I have taken the liberty to recreate here. I hope this might shed some light on a subject that you might stumble over in the future.
Conversions:
| German | U.S. | |
| 5. ‘5 5’ 5″ ‘550 1’500 |
= = = = = = |
5,000 500,000 5,000,000 5,000,000,000 550,000 1,550,000 |
or a combination: 1’250. = 1,250,000
When converting numbers and dealing with commas, periods, quotation marks and apostrophes, you need to be extra careful with your conversions and the final translation. Don’t just guess, because that decision could bite you in the rear end. As Edith Losa so aptly states:
There are, of course, other problems in business-related translations; e.g., different accounting methods, different organizational hierarchies, and basically a different way of doing business. Depending on the target audience, the translator has to be very careful as to how he conveys the message in the other language. But is this not true for all translations? Yes, it is; but in business and commercial translation material that often involves money and legal matters, a misplaced comma may mean a financial loss for the translator’s client, and it is not difficult to imagine what may happen to the translator in such a case.