5 ms·

Just use the English words like everyone else. It seems like there was an effort in the 80ies/90ies to have native German names for concepts in computer scienc

Just use the English words like everyone else. It seems like there was an effort in the 80ies/90ies to have native German names for concepts in computer science, but today those just sound very dated. Datenfernübertragung died with the 56k Modem ;)

pjmlp 8y ago
Not if you are reading requirements from any kind of "Beamte" related organization. :)
Double_a_92 8y ago
I remember a uni class about data structures that we had to study with a german book... With things like "Keller" for the recursion base and "Halde" for the heap. Oh boy.
- bhaak 8y ago
  I don't see the problem with translating terms that have a strong visual component, especially if it's an introductory text. It also depends on how old the text is (fundamental concepts don't change much) and if the current nomenclature has already been established back then. The term "Keller" BTW is not a bad translation of "stack" but an original German term by one of the inventors of the stack: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapelspeicher#Geschichte https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapelspeicher#Geschichte
swah 8y ago
This happens in Portugal vs Brazil. Portuguese have native terms ("mouse" is "rato") and Brazilians just import everything "mouse", "celular", "desktop".
- radicalbyte 8y ago
  Dutch vs Flemish is the same. The dutch use the English word and the Flemish make their own word.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - toolslive 8y ago
    That's not correct. The invented word probably comes from the 'Taalunie'. It might be that the Flemish adhere more to it than the Dutch (I have no statistics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Language_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Language_Union
    - radicalbyte 8y ago
      They make a new word using Dutch spelling whereas the Dutch use the English words one-for-one. Basically all of the words around computing are English words (which actually made it harder to learn Dutch, you need to know when the English words are actually the correct ones).
      - toolslive 8y ago
        I'm Flemish, and I worked in The Netherlands for more than 4 years. The dutch understand "muis" (mouse) "toetsenbord" (keyboard). There are dutch words with different meaning in both regions (like "aftrappen", "precies"). I think the biggest problem learning Dutch for foreigners (except for the rather complicated grammar) is that there are plenty of dialects (especially in Flanders).
- pjmlp 8y ago
  And sometimes both countries come up with totally unrelated terms to the original one. Spreadsheet => Folha de cálculo (Portugal), Planilha Electrônica (Brasil)
alexgmcm 8y ago
Blinkenlichten :P
- ascar 8y ago
  That's not a word :P You probably mean Blinklicht(er), actually used to describe flashing lights.
  - pluma 8y ago
    A lot of German techies would get the reference though. Ironically the German word for "blinkenlichten" is "Blinkenlights": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights_(Jargon) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights_(Jargon)
    - ascar 8y ago
      Thanks. Never heard of it. Probably too young for that
chousuke 8y ago
I find this interesting because my native tongue, Finnish, is quite good about accepting neologisms. People do use English terms, but it's also very common that there exists a native word and people will use that. Calling computers "kompuutteri" would sound hilariously old-timey compared to "tietokone" (or "tietsikka"). The same goes for "telefooni" vs. "puhelin", though curiously enough I'm perfectly fine using both "pointteri" and "osoitin" when speaking about programming. I guess part of it is because Finnish is not Germanic so direct loans sound bad... Often they get nativized so that eg a laptop in colloquial speech becomes "läppäri"
- leadingthenet 8y ago
  Hungarian is the same. Finno-ugrics ftw! “Computer” is non-existent in Hungarian, we call it számitógép, built from the words számitás (to calculate) and gép (machine). Since most Hungarian words are constructed like that, it sounds completely native to the language. I cringe whenever I hear English words mixed in with Hungarian ones, they sound completely out of place, which is probably not true for German.
  - jacobush 8y ago
    I think we can roughly equate Swedish with German, and gosh do English words sound "cringe" in Swedish. Luckily, we can often use the direct translation, English being very Germanic. Pointer becomes "pekare" for instance. Mouse "mus" and so on. So people recognize what it came from and can use the familiar sounding native version. "Computer" becomes "dator" meaning something operating on "data". "Data" is "data" in both. "Linked list" is "länkad lista". You see the pattern?

pjmlp 8y ago

Not if you are reading requirements from any kind of "Beamte" related organization. :)

Double_a_92 8y ago

I remember a uni class about data structures that we had to study with a german book... With things like "Keller" for the recursion base and "Halde" for the heap. Oh boy.

bhaak 8y ago
I don't see the problem with translating terms that have a strong visual component, especially if it's an introductory text. It also depends on how old the text is (fundamental concepts don't change much) and if the current nomenclature has already been established back then. The term "Keller" BTW is not a bad translation of "stack" but an original German term by one of the inventors of the stack: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapelspeicher#Geschichte https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapelspeicher#Geschichte

swah 8y ago

This happens in Portugal vs Brazil. Portuguese have native terms ("mouse" is "rato") and Brazilians just import everything "mouse", "celular", "desktop".

radicalbyte 8y ago
Dutch vs Flemish is the same. The dutch use the English word and the Flemish make their own word.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- toolslive 8y ago
  That's not correct. The invented word probably comes from the 'Taalunie'. It might be that the Flemish adhere more to it than the Dutch (I have no statistics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Language_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Language_Union
  - radicalbyte 8y ago
    They make a new word using Dutch spelling whereas the Dutch use the English words one-for-one. Basically all of the words around computing are English words (which actually made it harder to learn Dutch, you need to know when the English words are actually the correct ones).
    - toolslive 8y ago
      I'm Flemish, and I worked in The Netherlands for more than 4 years. The dutch understand "muis" (mouse) "toetsenbord" (keyboard). There are dutch words with different meaning in both regions (like "aftrappen", "precies"). I think the biggest problem learning Dutch for foreigners (except for the rather complicated grammar) is that there are plenty of dialects (especially in Flanders).
pjmlp 8y ago
And sometimes both countries come up with totally unrelated terms to the original one. Spreadsheet => Folha de cálculo (Portugal), Planilha Electrônica (Brasil)

alexgmcm 8y ago

Blinkenlichten :P

ascar 8y ago
That's not a word :P You probably mean Blinklicht(er), actually used to describe flashing lights.
- pluma 8y ago
  A lot of German techies would get the reference though. Ironically the German word for "blinkenlichten" is "Blinkenlights": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights_(Jargon) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights_(Jargon)
  - ascar 8y ago
    Thanks. Never heard of it. Probably too young for that

chousuke 8y ago

I find this interesting because my native tongue, Finnish, is quite good about accepting neologisms. People do use English terms, but it's also very common that there exists a native word and people will use that. Calling computers "kompuutteri" would sound hilariously old-timey compared to "tietokone" (or "tietsikka"). The same goes for "telefooni" vs. "puhelin", though curiously enough I'm perfectly fine using both "pointteri" and "osoitin" when speaking about programming. I guess part of it is because Finnish is not Germanic so direct loans sound bad... Often they get nativized so that eg a laptop in colloquial speech becomes "läppäri"

leadingthenet 8y ago
Hungarian is the same. Finno-ugrics ftw! “Computer” is non-existent in Hungarian, we call it számitógép, built from the words számitás (to calculate) and gép (machine). Since most Hungarian words are constructed like that, it sounds completely native to the language. I cringe whenever I hear English words mixed in with Hungarian ones, they sound completely out of place, which is probably not true for German.
- jacobush 8y ago
  I think we can roughly equate Swedish with German, and gosh do English words sound "cringe" in Swedish. Luckily, we can often use the direct translation, English being very Germanic. Pointer becomes "pekare" for instance. Mouse "mus" and so on. So people recognize what it came from and can use the familiar sounding native version. "Computer" becomes "dator" meaning something operating on "data". "Data" is "data" in both. "Linked list" is "länkad lista". You see the pattern?