If translating has taught me anything, it’s that ideas are not the same as convictions!
It’s probably not possible to try too hard not to make errors when translating, but one project I did today has actually boosted my confidence in this respect.
The language pair was German to English, the subject matter marketing material for a German construction company, and there was some terminology for which highly prescriptive translations were expected. Like “Maßgenauigkeit”. I was originally thinking “accurate measurements”, which surely depend on a professional approach, but eventually I agreed on “dimensional accuracy”. I will today remember “dimensional accuracy” as applying to completed structures whose measurements are “accurate” i.e. close to those that are specified; it’s different from “accurate measurements”, which merely means obtaining accurate measurements of something using rulers or whatever (and noting down the correct information).
Other solutions I was proud of include “Betriebserweiterung”. With the “Betrieb” bit, I originally thought “company expansion” but soon arrived at “expansion of operations” (as opposed to the mere professional entity that is the company). With “Eckige Bauwerke” I decided on “right-angle buildings” (rather then “square” or “rectangular” buildings – that’s somewhat less credible). And I remember thinking of translating “Umsatzgrenze” as “revenue threshold” rather than anything like “revenue limit” – I just didn’t buy the whole idea of a maximum revenue limit in connection with what I was writing about.
I was proud of myself for this project.