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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Learning
"In line with" (British-American translation)
I am an American whose company has just been acquired by a UK-based company, and a large part of my current job is to "translate" our marketing materials from UK English into US English, and vice versa. At the moment I'm interested in understanding the distinctions in meaning of the phrase "in line with" as used in British versus American English.
I've borrowed (with slight changes) some examples from the web:
1. "The company's first quarter results released earlier today are INLINE WITH full-year forecasts."
Here we have a sense of earnings being approximately equal to forecasts. We could call this quantitative accordance. This would be commonly heard and accurately understood in both the UK and the US.
2. "She also announced moves to toughen up hygiene standards inhospitals, bringing them IN LINE WITH rules governing the food industry."
Here the meaning is closer to obedient to* or *in agreement with* or *compliant with* or *subservient to. We might call this qualitative accordance. It seems like this sense would be less commonly heard in the US than in the UK, although it would be accurately understood in both. (If used in US, the phrase here would undoubtedly be "into line with")
3. "The rate of the interest applicable to your loan will fluctuate INLINE WITH changes to the variable interest rate."
Here we mean along with* or *at the same time and in the same direction as. Let's call it a spatial/temporal accordance. This is definitely a UK-only usage, although Americans would probably understand it correctly.
So far this is all pretty straightforward. What I'm wondering about is this type of usage:
4. "IN LINE WITH major changes in medical education over the lastdecade, the book stresses the importance of the community and the health of the population which play an integral part in becoming a good doctor."
This I would also classify as a non-US English usage - to my American ears it sounds vague and imprecise. The phrase seems to have one of the following meanings...
concurrent with (temporal/simultaneous)
as a result of (temporal/causal)
in addition to (temporal/sequence ambiguous)
mindful of (not sure how to classify this one)
My hunch is that mindful of is closest to the intended meaning. But I also suspect it could be a combination of meanings.
Can anyone shed some light on this topic?
I've borrowed (with slight changes) some examples from the web:
1. "The company's first quarter results released earlier today are INLINE WITH full-year forecasts."
Here we have a sense of earnings being approximately equal to forecasts. We could call this quantitative accordance. This would be commonly heard and accurately understood in both the UK and the US.
2. "She also announced moves to toughen up hygiene standards inhospitals, bringing them IN LINE WITH rules governing the food industry."
Here the meaning is closer to obedient to* or *in agreement with* or *compliant with* or *subservient to. We might call this qualitative accordance. It seems like this sense would be less commonly heard in the US than in the UK, although it would be accurately understood in both. (If used in US, the phrase here would undoubtedly be "into line with")
3. "The rate of the interest applicable to your loan will fluctuate INLINE WITH changes to the variable interest rate."
Here we mean along with* or *at the same time and in the same direction as. Let's call it a spatial/temporal accordance. This is definitely a UK-only usage, although Americans would probably understand it correctly.
So far this is all pretty straightforward. What I'm wondering about is this type of usage:
4. "IN LINE WITH major changes in medical education over the lastdecade, the book stresses the importance of the community and the health of the population which play an integral part in becoming a good doctor."
This I would also classify as a non-US English usage - to my American ears it sounds vague and imprecise. The phrase seems to have one of the following meanings...
concurrent with (temporal/simultaneous)
as a result of (temporal/causal)
in addition to (temporal/sequence ambiguous)
mindful of (not sure how to classify this one)
My hunch is that mindful of is closest to the intended meaning. But I also suspect it could be a combination of meanings.
Can anyone shed some light on this topic?
Top answer
[/nq] You may find it helpful to know that this process commonly goes by the name of "localization". jc
- [/nq] You may find it helpful to know that this process commonly goes by the name of "localization".
- jc
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33 Answers
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[nq:1]I am an American whose company has just been acquired by a UK-based company, and a large part of my current job is to "translate" our marketing materials from UK English into US English, and vice versa.[/nq]
You may find it helpful to know that this process commonly goes by the name of "localization".
jc
You may find it helpful to know that this process commonly goes by the name of "localization".
jc
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[nq:2]I am an American whose company has just been acquired ... materials from UK English into US English, and vice versa.[/nq]
[nq:1]You may find it helpful to know that this process commonly goes by the name of "localization". jc[/nq]
Even in the case of changing *to* US English? I thought that was called "globalization".
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
"it's the network...
[nq:1]You may find it helpful to know that this process commonly goes by the name of "localization". jc[/nq]
Even in the case of changing *to* US English? I thought that was called "globalization".
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
"it's the network...
00
[nq:1]I am an American whose company has just been acquired by a UK-based company, and a large part of my ... I'm interested in understanding the distinctions inmeaning of the phrase "in line with" as used in British versus American English.[/nq]
In preface: this is not going to be a fun one.
I can tell you that "in line with" does not appear in the OED Online or either of my primary paper
In preface: this is not going to be a fun one.
I can tell you that "in line with" does not appear in the OED Online or either of my primary paper
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[nq:2]You may find it helpful to know that this process commonly goes by the name of "localization".[/nq]
[nq:1]Even in the case of changing *to* US English?[/nq]
That's "localisation".
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
[nq:1]Even in the case of changing *to* US English?[/nq]
That's "localisation".
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
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[nq:2]Even in the case of changing *to* US English?[/nq]
[nq:1]That's "localisation".[/nq]
In my experience the term isn't used to refer to a single instance of translation.
Take for example a piece of software which has been written for a single market, the UK for example, and which is now to be marketed more widely. The program is first globalised , which involves putting all the mar
[nq:1]That's "localisation".[/nq]
In my experience the term isn't used to refer to a single instance of translation.
Take for example a piece of software which has been written for a single market, the UK for example, and which is now to be marketed more widely. The program is first globalised , which involves putting all the mar
00
[nq:2]Even in the case of changing *to* US English?[/nq]
[nq:1]That's "localisation".[/nq]
Izzenit "colonisation"?
John Dean
Oxford
[nq:1]That's "localisation".[/nq]
Izzenit "colonisation"?
John Dean
Oxford
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[nq:1]a large part of my current job is to "translate" our marketing materials from UK English into US English, and ... importance of the community and the health of the population which play an integral part in becoming a good doctor."[/nq]
These examples document interestingly two different sorts of phenomenon.
Business writing now displays a distinct preference for longer words and more
These examples document interestingly two different sorts of phenomenon.
Business writing now displays a distinct preference for longer words and more
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[nq:2]Even in the case of changing *to* US English?[/nq]
[nq:1]That's "localisation".[/nq]
Either way, it's a dashed bad word, since it already means something very different which might often appear in the same context. But I have no single-word alternative to offer.
Mike.
[nq:1]That's "localisation".[/nq]
Either way, it's a dashed bad word, since it already means something very different which might often appear in the same context. But I have no single-word alternative to offer.
Mike.
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[nq:1]4. "IN LINE WITH major changes in medical education over the last decade, the book stresses the importance of the ... meaning. But I also suspect it could be a combination of meanings. Can anyone shed some light on this topic?[/nq]
Over the last decade, medical education has changed so that it now stresses the importance of community care and community health (i.e. it's not /all/ about t
Over the last decade, medical education has changed so that it now stresses the importance of community care and community health (i.e. it's not /all/ about t
00
Thanks everybody for the great replies. The general consensus is that #4 is a case of sloppy writing that is trying to appear grandiose. As for ascertaining its intended meaning, there are a number of different theories...
general environmental
in unquestioning acceptance of* (credoquaabsurdum) *having the same underlying understanding of how things are as (freddyvessant)
min
general environmental
in unquestioning acceptance of* (credoquaabsurdum) *having the same underlying understanding of how things are as (freddyvessant)
min
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