The use of initials and acronyms is becoming more and more frequent in every language, especially in some fields, such as telecommunications, finance, IT, medicine, etc. Therefore technical translations usually involve plenty of initials and abbreviations which are different in every language and can’t be translated literally, but there are various tactics and rules that a technical translator must always bear in mind.

Even though it may at first appear to be an easy problem to deal with, there are some abbreviations which can sometimes lead to confusion when translating, because an equivalent does not exist in the target language, and it’s not always clear how to proceed. So, technical translators resort to a variety of dictionaries and glossaries of terms, initials and acronyms in different fields.

Here are some commonly applied tactics in technical translations, but it’s always best to check!

• For initials that represent international organisations, there is normally a standard translation, which you will have to find out. For example WHO=OMS, UN=ONU.
• The same applies to medical initials, which often have a standard translation, and you must use this and not the source language’s abbreviation. Some examples include: AIDS=SIDA (Acquired immune Deficiency Syndrome), DNA=ADN (Deoxyribonucleic Acid), STD=ETS (Sexually Transmitted Disease).
• Initials corresponding to the name of a business or institution shouldn’t be translated as a general rule, but if this is not the case, the full name should be translated, followed by its initials in brackets and the phrase “por sus sigles en inglés” (according to its initials in English). For example: Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA, por sus siglas en inglés).
• There are many other situations where you may encounter them. Some don’t have an equivalent acronym or set of initials in other languages, like CEO= Ejecutivo, or FAQ = preguntas frecuentes. Others have a different translation and acronym in the other language, like USA = Estados Unidos de América (EE. UU). Finally, there are many acronyms, especially in IT, which are also used in Spanish (PIN, DOS, CD ROM).

So to wrap up, we can recommend a website as a good place to check acronyms and initials in English. It is called Acronym Finder and it’s the biggest online database of initials, acronyms, and abbreviations. It contains more than 5 million acronyms and abbreviations, which you can search by category, or a backtracking search, which is to say that you can search for a word or words and find the corresponding acronym. This is a really useful tool for technical translations.

Do you know any oher useful tools for translating initials and acronyms? Please share with us!

Find out more about technical translations on our website.