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The translator is right. I cannot agree with your figure/number translations. Neither do the Canadian www.granddictionnaire.com nor the European http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/login.jsp.
Figure, Digit (EN) = Chiffre (FR)
Number (EN) = Nombre (FR)
However I am ready to believe that the US usage for "number" is different. Do you confirm that "number" may well mean "nombre" and "chiffre" in technical literature?
Jocelyn OLIVIER
Doc Specialist
Marseille, France
-----Original Message-----
From: eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com
To be blunt you hired a translator for their language and technical expertise in
French not English.
Never, never, never attempt to round-trip translations. You'll always just end
up confused. Equivalent words in different languages often do not share the same
synonyms or alternate meanings.
Use number or digit as in English I believe the accepted connotation is that
'Number' refers to one or more digits, where as 'Figure' usually refers to a
large number (ex: a six figure salary). This is the opposite in French. A
'Nombre" is composed of many 'Chiffres'.
ex:
4567 is a figure composed of four numbers (or digits).
4567 est un nombre de quatre chiffres.
The translator's translation from English to French is correct, their
translation from French to English is wrong.
As for windows installations and commands, the reason you're seeing different
things is you have differnet OSes. Plain and simple.
In doing a technical translation, it is the translator's responsability to know
the differences between to interfaces and translate the language and technology
accordingly.
Eric L. Dunn
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