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Mon 18 Feb, 2008 05:42 am
Particular problems which are likely to face the translator are the sheer volume of terms which exist in any one field and the necessity to ensure consistency in the way such terms are translated.
What does sheer volume mean?
Thanks in advance!
In this context "sheer" means "very large" or "almost without limit".
Particular problems which are likely to face the translator are the sheer volume of terms which exist in any one field and the necessity to ensure consistency in the way such terms are translated.
Particular problems which are likely to face the translator are the very large number of terms which exist in any one field and the necessity to ensure consistency in the way such terms are translated.
Thank you Contrex!
So this usage of sheer is very common?
Do you think the sememe of large comes from sheer, or volume in the phrase "the sheer volume"? ( I guess the latter.)
bluestblue wrote:Thank you Contrex!
So this usage of sheer is very common?
Not particularly common. It simply used here as an emphasiser.
McTag wrote:bluestblue wrote:Thank you Contrex!
So this usage of sheer is very common?
Not particularly common. It simply used here as an emphasiser.
Thank you very Much, Mr McTag!
It is an intensifier. Words like "amazing" or "colossal" etc could be substituted.
The sheer audacity of Hitler's foreign policy amazed many people in the 1930s.
The sheer size of the Airbus A380 takes the breath away!
The sheer beauty and intelligence of Britney Spears have captivated all of the world's intellectuals.
contrex wrote:It is an intensifier. Words like "amazing" or "colossal" etc could be substituted.
The sheer audacity of Hitler's foreign policy amazed many people in the 1930s.
The sheer size of the Airbus A380 takes the breath away!
The sheer beauty and intelligence of Britney Spears have captivated all of the world's intellectuals.
Thank you again Contex! Your examples are very helpful!
The original meaning of "sheer" was "clear, pure". In your sentence, as in the ones Contrex supplied, it has the sense "unmitigated, absolute", "that and nothing else". The writer means to stress that it's not the obscurity or difficulty of the terms that cause problems, but simply the volume of them.
(By the way, a slightly different sense of the same word is "diaphanous, translucent", as in "sheer silk stockings".)
I'm pretty sure our foreign correspondents have all got access to a good dictionary. They come to the thread for a bit of amplification, or wider understanding of an issue.
I hope they get it. We don't always agree here.
McTag wrote: We don't always agree here.
When we don't, you're wrong!
The royal "we", but hey. It's amazing how many barneys break out.
It is my pleasant function on these threads to try to restrain the extremists in their more esoteric flights of fancy.
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