Record a Decision About Meaning
A terminology log should explain why a team uses a term in a particular context. A list of word pairs cannot show whether the underlying concept was understood, who decided or what remains unresolved. Keep the source phrase, intended meaning, audience, alternatives, reason, reviewer and scope of permitted use together.
The TWB interpreting guide, PDF pages 7-10, supports preparing terminology and seeking clarification. It does not certify the original fictional English/French choices below.
Begin With the Source Context
The fictional delivery notice says: "The team plans to deliver 12 cartons by 10 November 2026, if road access permits. This is not a confirmed delivery." The project owner defines carton as the sealed outer shipping container; contents are not specified. The notice communicates a plan, not a contractual delivery guarantee. These supplied meanings govern this exercise only.
| Term or Phrase | Alternatives and Context | Decision and Rationale | Status and Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| plans to deliver | prévoit de livrer; livrera | Use prévoit de livrer in the teaching notice because it preserves a plan; livrera is a future assertion and is too strong here | Selected for this notice by the fictional content owner after language review; not a universal ban on the future tense |
| by 10 November | au plus tard le 10 novembre; le 10 novembre | Use au plus tard le to preserve a latest date; le alone may imply delivery on that day | Meaning decision for this sentence; date itself remains an operational fact to verify |
| carton | carton; boîte; caisse | Keep carton in this teaching version because the supplied definition is an outer shipping container; ask about actual material and audience usage before production | Contents and local preferred term remain unresolved; do not infer a wooden crate from caisse |
| access | accès routier; accès aux dossiers | Use accès routier for road access; accès aux dossiers means access to records and belongs to a different context | Context-specific decision; no implication that a road is currently passable |
| approved | approuvé; autorisé; confirmé | No term approved for an unspecified context: a budget approval, permission to act and confirmation of an event are not automatically the same concept | Hold until the author supplies the decision and status intended |
The role descriptions and selected-use status are invented. This is not a claim that an actual professional reviewer or organizational owner approved these terms.
Resolve the Concept Before Choosing the Word
The translator asks whether confirmed means an authorized commitment or only that a schedule was checked. The source owner must explain. A fluent equivalent cannot settle an ambiguous source. Record the question, its responsible owner and the affected sentence rather than adding an apparently definitive glossary entry.
If the owner changes the message from a plan to a commitment, update the source and log together. The earlier translation is not automatically accurate for the changed document. Record the decision date and version so a future editor knows which meaning was selected.
Use the Log During Review
Search the actual document for the term and examine each occurrence in context. The same word may carry a different meaning in a budget table, an access policy and a delivery notice. Apply a logged choice only within its stated scope; mechanical replacement can introduce errors.
A review note should say which meaning was checked, which sentence changed and what still needs language or technical judgment. Keep approved references in their permitted location. The log is an aid to consistency, not proof that quantities, grammar, register or obligations are correct everywhere.
Leave a Useful Unresolved Entry
For approved, the practical output is a hold: "Author to specify decision stage and responsible authority before the translation is finalized." That is more useful than a confident but unsupported word pair. Use source preparation to clarify the ambiguity and translation review to check the resulting text. These examples have bounded desk review only; they do not certify a language pair, validate local audience usage or approve terms for a real notice.