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> I guessed it was an acronym If it were an acronym, it would likely be capitalized as URN, similar to ASAP or GNU. > until I realized that "urn" if for an ac

> I guessed it was an acronym If it were an acronym, it would likely be capitalized as URN, similar to ASAP or GNU. > until I realized that "urn" if for an actual vessel-like object A dictionary search seems like it would have helped here instead of Wikipedia. > Which turns out to be such a simple concept, but maybe a note could help future international readers. I'm not sure how native speakers in any language could determine whether a given word would be problematic for international readers. There's no inherent ambiguity in the word "urn" in this case for native speakers. Do you have any ideas, or are you recommending a change for this particular article? Personally, I'd recommend that the author change "urn" to something more common, like "jar" or "bottle." Since the type of the container itself isn't even germane to the discussion, "box" or "container" might be clearer still.

franciscop 11y ago
I've met many people who were learning Spanish and now I get a "feeling" when something could be confusing, but I'm not sure of any general advice for determining it otherwise. It's even more difficult when it's a particular field like Statistics. In retrospective this is something I could have guessed normally. Just some ideas to answer in a more "general" way from my point of view: - "Statisticians love urns and, guess what, our problem can be modeled as an extraction from two different urns." Something that might help is noting that it's a typical problem like this: + "Statisticians love urns and, guess what, our problem can be modeled as an typical extraction from two different urns." Note the addition of "typical". Just wording like that would give me a hint that it's something that I'm unaware of. It's just like talking about any other field. Compare these: - The two prisoners is a case widely known for its... (what two prisoners? were they in the news? it could be anything and seems non-googleable) + The typical two prisoners problem is widely known for its... (oh, it's a reference to a specific, famous problem, google gives a quick match)

franciscop 11y ago

I've met many people who were learning Spanish and now I get a "feeling" when something could be confusing, but I'm not sure of any general advice for determining it otherwise. It's even more difficult when it's a particular field like Statistics. In retrospective this is something I could have guessed normally. Just some ideas to answer in a more "general" way from my point of view: - "Statisticians love urns and, guess what, our problem can be modeled as an extraction from two different urns." Something that might help is noting that it's a typical problem like this: + "Statisticians love urns and, guess what, our problem can be modeled as an typical extraction from two different urns." Note the addition of "typical". Just wording like that would give me a hint that it's something that I'm unaware of. It's just like talking about any other field. Compare these: - The two prisoners is a case widely known for its... (what two prisoners? were they in the news? it could be anything and seems non-googleable) + The typical two prisoners problem is widely known for its... (oh, it's a reference to a specific, famous problem, google gives a quick match)