Tag Archives: Numbers

Translating ‘standard’

Posted 200 days ago by Stephen Whiteley

“Standard” is a tough word to translate. It means so many different things in English that translators often make mistakes when trying to understand it. In the first place, its meaning as a noun is often quite different from its …

Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged , , | No Comments

Fire protection: kilos or bars?

Posted 1797 days ago by Colin Whiteley

The other day we had to translate this sentence from a fire protection specification: Standard weight (150 lb (68 kg)) minimum) fittings shall be used. It seems straightforward enough, but it’s got a number of traps. 150 pounds is indeed 68 …

Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged , , , | No Comments

When is a ton a tonne?

Posted 1803 days ago by Colin Whiteley

A ton is 2,240 pounds (avoirdupoids – the old British weights and measures system). It is also known as a “long ton”. In Britain, 16 oz (ounces) make a pound (lb), 14 lb make a stone, 8 stones make a hundredweight (cwt – 112 lb) and 20 hundredweight make a ton! The Brits refer to their own weight in stone (6.35 kg), but the Americans stick to pounds. So a 12-stone man weighs 168 lb in America and 76 kg just about everywhere else.

Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged | No Comments

Numbers: Is the inch a metric unit?

Posted 1811 days ago by Colin Whiteley

Yes it is. The inch is defined as 25.4 millimeters. That’s right; this is not a mere metric equivalent, but the definition of the inch (long gone are the days when it was defined as 1/36 of a the standard …

Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged , | No Comments

Numbers: What about American units?

Posted 1811 days ago by Colin Whiteley

Strange as it may seem, there is no standard for the use of the non-SI units used in the USA (as far as I know!).

Traditionally, the symbols are considered to be abbreviations of English (or Latin) words and so are written with a dot after them, and often have the letter s to indicate the plural. Some of them special symbols as well.

Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged , | No Comments

Testimonials

    • I cannot recommend a better translation service than QuickSilver's, not only...

      — Bill Makley, Internal Communications
      ADT WORLDWIDE

    • Translation used to be a real problem for us, as we have dozens of technical datasheets ...

      — Peter W. Thomas, Vice President, Research and Development, EMEA & Asia/Pacific
      TYCO FIRE & BUILDING PRODUCTS

    • Quicksilver has provided us with fast and professional service for a wide range of translation projects...

      — Larisa Tatge, Assistant Director, Dept. of Publications
      IESE BUSINESS SCHOOL

    • The CEO (a fluent German speaker) has just commented on the speed and quality of the translation...

      — Nick Russell, International Communication
      GRUPO FERRER

Follow us

Quicksilver Translations

C/ Girona 17, Esc. A, 1º 2ª
Sant Cugat del Vallés
08172 Barcelona
Spain

SKYPE swhiteley TELEPHONE +34 93 590 7140