[Ubuntu-l10n-eng] Gaim/Pidgin's buddy

[Matthew Smith]

Hi,

On 31/05/07, Bruce Cowan <bruce.cowan at dsl.pipex.com> wrote:
> On the long-running Deleted Items thread[1] on the forums, somebody
> expressed their dislike of Gaim/Pidgin's word "buddy"[2].
>
> I propose changing buddy to something more en_GB, as buddy isn't really
> used here.
>
> Possibilities could be "friend" or "contact".

I translated Gaim into British English a few years ago (I can't
remember whether I actually submitted the translation to Gaim), and
had this very same thought. The problem is coming up with a word
equivilant to 'buddy'. 'Friend' isn't really suitable, as it's a
weighted word; not everyone on my buddy list is my friend. 'Contact'
is already used in Gaim: it's used to mean multiple buddies combined
(so if you have my msn and aim accounts on your buddy list, seperately
they are buddies; combine them together and they're a 'contact') - see
e.g. the pidgin faq[0].

I considered using 'mate', as from what I understand it is the
semantic equivalent of 'buddy' (used informally, for people who aren't
necessarily your friends), but the fact that not all British English
speakers use it, and its other meanings, make it undesirable.

You might ask ask the pidgin translators mailing list for suggestions
- see what other languages are using.[1]

[0] http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Finch#InaconversationwithacontactcanIselectwhichbuddythemessageissentto
[1] translators at pidgin.im

thanks,
Matt
-- 
smigifer at gmail dot com
http://www.tvroom.me.uk