A discussion about translation services, translators, and translation software

In reply to one of my entries, Cathi Kent asked recently: "What word would you use next to the search box instead of IR?  I've been using a lot of sites that are primarily Spanish (and their English translations, if they have one, are just as bad at our attempts at Spanish) but they all use IR.  Are you thinking that you would use the command form instead of the infinitive?  That makes sense, I wonder why they don't?"

Good and fair questions.  I poked around some Spanish language sites to get answers, and I think things are just plain unclear.  The English "GO" button is being translated in various ways.  For "Search" buttons after Search boxes, most sites prefer "buscar" or "búsqueda".  See the Spain-based OZU search site; it uses both.  MercadoLibre, the Mexican affiliate site for eBay, uses only "Buscar". 

For "Go" buttons after text boxes (not necessarily a search), some have "Ir", which I object to as an affectation of the English, and some have infinitives which more precisely express what is being performed, such as "enviar" (send) or "ver" (see--to open a new page of options).  As a translator, I must say I prefer these.  I even saw a few that offer explanatory text, such as "para buscar" next to a button that had only forward arrows and no text.

I suspect that "IR", like many other non-English things on the Internet, is the result of translators being too focussed on the English model.

Getting linguistic, "IR" is not what "GO" is.  In English, we have an entire idiom based on "GO": rockets go off, shows go on, policemen go easy on women drivers, little kids go number 2 in the potty, milk goes sour, "and I go 'yuh-uh' and he goes 'yuh-huh!'"  Spanish would have a specific verb for just about every case, and "go" would be eliminated.  Conversely, we have accepted "go" after a text box to mean "go get it" or "go ahead".  Spanish Web users may become accustomed to "IR" in the same context, but I hope they don't.

Conjugating the verb in Spanish doesn't help.  Which form would you use?  "Vaya" can too eaily mean "get lost" or some other idiomatic twist.  "Ve" is ambiguous with "ver".  Expanded, explanatory forms, like "vaya buscando" or "busque datos" tell a better story but require BIG buttons.  No, I still prefer "BUSCAR", "VER", "ENVIAR" and other specific verbs in the infinitive.  But I don't think my preferences will steer translators in the race to bring the Spanish-Speaking world up to speed on the Web.