Avoiding a US-centric Writing Style

Laurie Kamerer

A bank in China recently purchased 400 copies of a software package from Cisco Systems, Inc. Neither the software nor the associated documentation had been localized, but bank management was not worried since “everyone speaks English.” Unfortunately, the bank’s personnel did not speak the long-winded, US-centric brand of English that appeared in the online help system. As a result, the CDs sit on the shelf while customers complain.

In a perfect world, all of our products, Web sites, documentation and marketing collateral would be localized for every target locale. In reality, customers often have to make do with the English versions. In either case, writers play a crucial role in serving global customers. One of the biggest contributions that content creators can make to their global audience is to eliminate US-centric references and biases.

Translations can be completed more efficiently and with fewer errors when their source materials are culturally neutral. When end customers must grapple with the English themselves, eliminating cultural bias becomes even more critical. Creating culturally neutral and therefore more comprehensible material hinges on two principles: avoiding culture-specific references and avoiding location-specific references.

Principle 1: Avoid culture-specific references. This kind of reference, which assumes the reader is familiar with American idiosyncrasies and customs, can even confuse native English speakers from outside the United States. Sports metaphors all too frequently creep into US business parlance and bewilder non-US speakers of English. Puns, jokes, idiomatic language, colloquialisms and jargon all fall into this category.

In the following example, the simile assumes that the audience is familiar with the American cultural landscape: “The Economy is very much like Oklahoma just after the land rush. The land closest to the border has been grubstaked, and many of the most convenient and conspicuously valuable lots have been fenced to keep interlopers out” (marketing material from a Cisco Systems, Inc., Web site).

Sports metaphors, especially baseball metaphors, should be eliminated at every occurrence. Not only do sports generally play a lesser role in other countries than they do in the United States, but baseball specifically (often cited as the pinnacle of Americanism) is especially unfamiliar to many non-US readers. The following statement, overheard at a sales meeting, might baffle attendees from outside the United States: “It’s great that our sales team made a diving catch on this one, but next time we should develop a game plan that does not necessitate such ninth-inning heroics.”

Colloquialisms can trip up even the best translators. Some of George W. Bush’s cowboy westernisms have made translators at international media outlets scramble. As reported in a recent National Public Radio piece, Bush stumped the foreign press with his recent challenge to Iraqi attackers. “Bring ’em on,” he said. The Kyoto news agency in Japan opted to translate this as follows: “Come on. If you’re courageous enough to attack us, just attack us. We are ready to defeat you.”

After struggling with translating “Bring ’em on,” the Arab news agency Al- Jazeera chose not to quote the president at all, but instead to paraphrase.

Speeches and presentations can be especially daunting for non-US speakers of English. In addition to understanding English, the audience also has to keep up with the speaker. If audience members receive slides or an outline in advance, they will be able to better focus on and comprehend the content.

Principle 2: Avoid location-specific references. Things that are not standard internationally, but vary based on the reader’s geographic frame of reference, can be considered “location-specific.” Common culprits in this category are time and date references, units of measure and references to specific laws and tax codes.

CNN reported on one particularly expensive example of this type of problem in 1999. NASA had lost a $125-million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency’s team used the more conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation.

While time and date formatting might be obvious examples of location-specific considerations, a domestic reference like this might not immediately raise a red flag: “Customer support representatives are available 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. every day except national holidays” (Contact page from ecommerce Web site).

In addition to “What time zone?” the reader will have to ask himself “Whose nation? What holidays?”

In some cases, these types of references not only confuse readers, but can be much more insidious. One software vendor thought that the company would be able to “globalize” fairly easily by translating on-line marketing materials for its target market in Europe. The software enabled the automation of a number of human resources functions, including Web-based processing of 401(k) and W2 forms. The marketing content had gone through initial translations when one editor, based in Europe, asked, “What is 401(k)?” Not only did the marketing materials fail to speak to the target audience, but the functionality did not speak to their national tax and pension codes.

A British comedian also touched on this principle when he asked a retired British judge whether, when charged with a particular crime, he should plead the fifth. “That won’t do you any good,” the judge responded. “The fifth amendment is part of the American Constitution and has no legal recognition in the UK.”

The application of these guidelines must vary depending on the nature of your content. Marketing material is not always suited to a perfectly literal style, whereas technical documentation is best if it is dry and unadorned. In any case, writers won’t leave their global audience stranded on second base if they consider these guidelines when developing content.