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Style guide for International English?
Thread poster: Cathleen P
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:12
French to English
Globish Aug 4, 2017

It exists alright, and we native speakers don't like having to deal with, alright?

How could a linguist enjoy seeing their language mauled and streamlined and stripped of all colourful expression? We have a great idiomatic phrasal verb for that: it's called dumbing down.

I've been asked to do international English. One client said to just keep it simple. Well it was a highly technical text, written in very floral language, vivid with idiom and brimming with cultural re
... See more
It exists alright, and we native speakers don't like having to deal with, alright?

How could a linguist enjoy seeing their language mauled and streamlined and stripped of all colourful expression? We have a great idiomatic phrasal verb for that: it's called dumbing down.

I've been asked to do international English. One client said to just keep it simple. Well it was a highly technical text, written in very floral language, vivid with idiom and brimming with cultural references.
Turns out the client wanted to send her text to some Japanese textile designers. I said she'd first have to simplify the French text, it wasn't up to me to decide which elements could be dropped, flattened out or toned down, and I didn't know anything about the kind of expressions the Japanese could have trouble with, or what level of English they might have (better than my client's, I suspect but that's just my inner bitch yapping).

I'm all for trying to be politically correct to avoid offending whoever but at some point, we ought to be able to tell a client that they're asking for something that doesn't actually exist in any official capacity.

If the UN were to come up with an official style guide for international English, fine, until then, I'm doing (British) English.

Although I am always accommodating with my clients. If a client objects to any particular expression or turn of phrase or whatever, I'll find an alternative and put a post-it to remind me not to use it any more in what I do for them.

Probably the most important thing is to be consistent so people know where you stand.
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Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:12
German to English
UN Editorial Manual Aug 4, 2017

The UN does have a style guide for international English and it is based on UK English (http://dd.dgacm.org/editorialmanual/). And I agree with Samuel that most Europeans mean a UK-based English when they say "just English" or international English. However, I would also emphasize that a significant minority of European clients prefer US-based English and a significant number of specific projects m... See more
The UN does have a style guide for international English and it is based on UK English (http://dd.dgacm.org/editorialmanual/). And I agree with Samuel that most Europeans mean a UK-based English when they say "just English" or international English. However, I would also emphasize that a significant minority of European clients prefer US-based English and a significant number of specific projects make US-based English the more logical choice.

The situation is probably reversed in Latin America and maybe countries like Japan or Korea, and that may also universally be the case in specific fields like IT or the automotive industry.

So, if you're looking for international English style guides based on US English to justify its use as the basis for international English, then I would look and see what internationally active US companies or organizations have to offer (there is a Yahoo style guide and Microsoft must have a style guide) or look for style guides related to US-dominated industries.

Other than that, you just need to be open about what you are offering and get your clients to be as clear as possible about what they want.
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Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:12
French to English
interesting Aug 4, 2017

Michael Wetzel wrote:

The UN does have a style guide for international English and it is based on UK English (http://dd.dgacm.org/editorialmanual/).


Unfortunately I got the dreaded
"404 - File or directory not found.
The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable."


 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:12
German to English
Afraid to edit my post, because they tend to disappear afterwards ... Aug 4, 2017

http://dd.dgacm.org/editorialmanual/

The problem was probably that the parenthesis after the address was being included in the link.


 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:12
German to English
The Elements of International English Style ... Aug 4, 2017

... looks promising in terms of what you are looking for, and the preview version on Amazon (at least the one that showed up on my Amazon search) uses US spelling: Acknowledgments, colorless ...

I don't know if the book explicitly deals with the specific issue being discussed here or not, but it seems very likely.


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 13:12
Danish to English
+ ...
"International" Aug 4, 2017

It seems to me that asking for "international" English is a bit like asking for a car that meets "international" requirements, including equipment for LHD and RHD at the same time. Do you put the steering wheel and pedals to the left or to the right? You need to make a choice.

When you are about to buy a house, do you involve an estate agent or a realtor, and do you have it surveyed or inspected? Not many Americans will understand what you mean if you say "survey", and if you tell t
... See more
It seems to me that asking for "international" English is a bit like asking for a car that meets "international" requirements, including equipment for LHD and RHD at the same time. Do you put the steering wheel and pedals to the left or to the right? You need to make a choice.

When you are about to buy a house, do you involve an estate agent or a realtor, and do you have it surveyed or inspected? Not many Americans will understand what you mean if you say "survey", and if you tell them you like to eat pork scratchings while watching the telly, they’ll probably think you haven't learnt to speak proper English.

What do you choose in "international" English then? If you choose A, some won't understand it, and if you choose B, others won't understand it. Do you have to spell out what such words mean, then, reducing the language to its lowest common denominator?

How do you handle concepts such as “social security”, which has a specific meaning in the US, and another in the UK? You risk ending up with something that is neither fish nor fowl.

It’s bit like asking for three-and-a-half-wheeled car as a compromise between a three-wheeler and a four-wheeler.

What exactly does a customer that asks for "international" English expect in such cases? It's for them to define.
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Cathleen P
Cathleen P
Canada
Local time: 09:12
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
...neither fish nor fowl Aug 4, 2017

Thanks everyone for their input! Judging from the popularity of this thread we can't deny that International English is, or is becoming, an issue. I tend to agree with what seems to be the consensus, namely that an International English is neither fish nor fowl. If we have the choice, and can convince our clients, then we should choose one or the other. ... Still that fish/fowl exists out there. Just look at the UN style guide. It's a mess. (And it doesn't help that they don't even apply it con... See more
Thanks everyone for their input! Judging from the popularity of this thread we can't deny that International English is, or is becoming, an issue. I tend to agree with what seems to be the consensus, namely that an International English is neither fish nor fowl. If we have the choice, and can convince our clients, then we should choose one or the other. ... Still that fish/fowl exists out there. Just look at the UN style guide. It's a mess. (And it doesn't help that they don't even apply it consistently in their documentation.) I personally don't like it. I wouldn't be surprised if non-native English speakers were the least sensitive to this "mixed bag" kind of approach. So, as language professionals we need to keep an eye out for how this will develop. Things are always changing. US English is changing; UK English is changing. Moreover, I do find https://www.amazon.com/Elements-International-English-Style-Correspondence/dp/076561572X#reader_076561572X to be a valid enterprise. If the readership of what we write could be just as well in Pakistan as in Texas or London, then it makes sense to simplify and streamline the vocabulary and expressions. My initial interest when starting this thread though concerned spelling and punctuation.

[Edited at 2017-08-04 12:42 GMT]
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Style guide for International English?







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