Re: [Usability] Inlined Evolution 2 feedback

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004, Bastien Nocera wrote:

> Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 21:03:09 +0100
> From: Bastien Nocera <hadess hadess net>
> To: Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>
> Cc: usability gnome org
> Subject: Re: [Usability] Inlined Evolution 2 feedback
>
> On Sun, 2004-09-26 at 23:34 +0100, Alan Horkan wrote:
> > >              5. Zip is an abbreviation for Zoning Improvement Plan,
> > so
> > >                 it should be capitalized as ZIP.
> >
> > I despise acronyms and other assorted jargon but it could be argued
> > that
> > "Zip Code" has taken on a meaning of its own like scuba, radar,
> > gnome, and to put it in uppercase only invites questions about what
> > it stands for.  Other words like "email" have evolved and been
> > simplified
> > from e-mail (was it ever E-Mail or e-Mail?), so I'd bend the rules
> > here
> > and keep it simple.
>
> And laser, my preferred one :)

I'd forgotten about that one, so I looked it up, and in case anyone else
is interested it stands for
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER)

> > A more likely probley is that Zip Code is meaningless in some English
> > speaking locales and "Area Code" would be a much clearer more
> > approriate
> > and descriptive generic term.  (We do have very simple area codes in
> > Ireland and the UK has more complicated ones but I dont think any of
> > us
> > describe them as Zip codes).
>
> It's called a postcode, and it doesn't really matter what it's called in
> the C locale, it should be/will be translated anyway.

If the C locale can use a term that works equally well for all English
speaking locales I would disctinctly prefer it.
The reason is that en-GB translations dont always happen unless there are
a few really obviously
incompatible spellings like "colour".  As I use the en-IE locale rather
than en-GB I sometime get stuck with en-US spellings because things do
not correctly fall back from en-GB to en-IE.

It is a minor detail (but details usually are) but if it can be avoided
entirely by a more careful choice of words in the C locale and save
translators from unnecessary work then so much the better.

- Alan