RE: Translation of program names

["Curtis C. Hovey" <sinzui cox net>]

On Fri, 2003-10-31 at 07:03, Murray Cumming Comneon com wrote:
>   Epiphany Webbrowski
> 
>   Erscheinung Browser

Another point about translating app names: how do I and another user
know we are talking about and using the same app?  How would I file a
bug against Erscheinung?  

I don't think it is wise to translate proper names like Epiphany or
GNOME (which is a anagram anyway).  Proper names are not usually
translated in literature.  If there is a meaning in a proper name that
isn't obvious in the translation, then a footnote suffices.  I would not
make it a rule though.  If a proper name is offensive in a language,
some consideration is needed*.

* I recall a fashion in translations of Chinese literature to translate
the woman's name (Peony Flower), but not the man's.  Boys were sometimes
given offensive names to trick demons into thinking the child is
unloved.

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