Lack of uni­ver­sal definitions

When trans­la­tors dis­cuss proof­read­ing, revis­ing and edit­ing, they often don’t agree on what the terms mean in their every-day work. Then how are clients sup­posed to know what they want? To add to the con­fu­sion, out­side of the trans­la­tion world these terms have yet other meanings.

Brian Mossop offers these translator-specific def­i­n­i­tions:
Edit­ing: The process of check­ing a non-translational text for error and mak­ing appro­pri­ate amend­ments, with spe­cial atten­tion to mak­ing the text suit­able for its read­ers and intended use. (p. 198)
Revis­ing: The process of check­ing a draft trans­la­tion for errors and mak­ing appro­pri­ate amend­ments. (p. 201)
Proof­read­ing: (1) In edit­ing, com­par­i­son of the printer’s proof with the man­u­script. (2) In revi­sion, some­times used as a syn­onym of uni-lingual re-reading, espe­cially when this is lim­ited to cor­rec­tions (i.e. no improve­ments are made). (p. 200)

I have seen trans­la­tors use dif­fer­ent def­i­n­i­tions of these terms and my web­site also…

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