Acronyms used by freelance translators and translation agencies

Freelance translators, like any profession, have their own jargon. Below are common acronyms that can trip up beginners—or anyone who doesn’t work much from English.

EOB – End Of Business. When giving a deadline, EOB means “before the close of business.” Because working days/hours vary, it’s best to add a specific time and, if helpful, the time zone.
Client: I need this by tomorrow EOB.
Translator: Fine. I’ll deliver it by tomorrow, Tuesday 5:00 pm CET.

SOB – Start Of Business. Before normal working hours begin. As with EOB, specify the concrete time if there’s any ambiguity.

ASAP – As Soon As Possible. As soon as feasible.

CET – Central European Time. Time zone used in Madrid, Paris, Berlin, etc.

CAT – Computer-Aided (Assisted) Translation (tool). See: translation-memory tools.

MT – Machine Translation. Automatic translation produced by a computer (e.g., Google Translate).

MT – MultiTerm. Terminology-database manager included with SDL Trados Studio. (Same acronym, different meaning; rely on context.)

PM – Project Manager. Agency employee who coordinates work between translators and clients.

OCR – Optical Character Recognition. Software that converts text in an image/PDF into editable characters.

PO – Purchase Order. Formal document confirming a translation assignment.

TMX – Translation Memory eXchange. Open format for exchanging translation memories between CAT tools.

TTX. Bilingual file format used by some CAT tools (legacy Trados).

TM – Translation Memory. The database CAT tools build to reuse prior translations.

100% matches. Segments identical to previously translated segments stored in a TM.

Reps – Repetitions. Identical segments repeated within the same file/project.

LSP – Language Service Provider. Translation company or freelance translator offering language services.

NBS – Non-Breaking Space. Insecable space; prevents a line break. Used sparingly.