nätet

English translation: the net

17:29 Jun 12, 2011
Swedish to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Computers (general)
Swedish term or phrase: nätet
I have a very specific context here. A tech guy (open source programmer, to be precise) is talking to an interviewer from a tech magazine. The former says, "Vi tycker förstås att webben hela tiden ska bli bättre och det ska vara gratis att göra saker för nätet."

Would you have him use "the Internet" or "the 'Net" or "the Net"? And why?
Charles Ek
United States
Local time: 05:28
English translation:the net
Explanation:
Among techies, unless otherwise specified, "the net" (without the quotes)
means "the Internet".
Selected response from:

Nils Andersson
United States
Grading comment
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3the net
Nils Andersson
3 -1the Internet
Bianca Marsden-Day


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
the net


Explanation:
Among techies, unless otherwise specified, "the net" (without the quotes)
means "the Internet".

Nils Andersson
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 2
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks, that was my inclination. (I'm assuming your omission of the capitalization was inadvertent.)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Henrik Brameus: Clarification. If you use Internet then there is no definite article, since it's a name. If you are talking about an internet, then it's another story. In this case I think 'the net' carries the tone and meaning of what was said.
56 mins

agree  Anna Herbst: Treat it the same way it has been treated in Swedish.
7 hrs

agree  Mats Andersson: It's a direct quote. He's violating the "textbook treatment" for Swedish, so lowercase n carries some of the tone over.
9 hrs
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
the Internet


Explanation:
I think English UK is more likely to say "Internet" than "Net", and otherwise refer to the Web. This is a non-techie view, and I'm not suggesting there is not more than one view! I don't think we use either without a definite article.

Bianca Marsden-Day
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:28
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  SafeTex: Being a name, we don't use 'The' before Internet normally (unless Internet is used itself as an adjective)
1 day 6 hrs
  -> I'm sorry, I don't agree that we would not use "the" before "Internet". Maybe we should just agree to differ here!
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