Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
fill in the facts
English answer:
take into account the statistics
English term
Italy
Your financial translation expert
Native in: Italian 
Works in: English to Italian, French to Italian, Italian
fill in the facts
Suppose that you are suffering from serious heart disease and that your doctor proposes a grueling operation. YOu're understandably curious about the odds. The doctor says, "Of one hundred patients who have this operation, ninety are alive after five years." What will you do? *If we fill in the facts in a certain way*, the doctor's statement will be pretty comforting, and you'll probably have the operation.
My guess is that it simply means: "If facts are presented / told in a certain way". What befuddles me is the use of "we". Am I completely off track? Thank you for your help.
Non-PRO (1): writeaway
When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.
How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:
An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)
A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).
Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.
When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.
* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.
Responses
Russian Federation
proficient translation
Native in: English 
, Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English to Russian, English
take into account the statistics
United States
US Court Cert. 1980 Ph.D. 1981
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
poner a alguien al corriente (de algo)
fill in: (inform) (colloquial) poner al corriente
Mike :)
| Thank you Mike. But why are the authors using "we" here? Isn't that odd, given the way the sentence is written? |
| neutral |
David Moore (X)
: Since this is apparently E > E, how can anyone agree?
28 mins
|
Benchmark Translations
Native in: Portuguese , English
Works in: Portuguese, English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, and 1 more.
see explanation below
if we fill in the facts in a certain way = if facts are presented / told in a certain way
After all the doctor could have said:
"Of one hundred patients who have this operation, ten are dead after five years."
which is a lot less reassuring.
With regard to "we", that is just a way of putting it.
Exactly the same as writing:
If one fills in the facts...
OR
If you fill in the facts...
It doesn't mean anything special; it just means anyone in general.
I hope I've explained it ok.
| Perfectly clear, thanks :-) |
| aaaaaaaah! I made a mistake! I gave points to the wrong question! I'll write to the moderators immediately to see whether I can reopen the question! I apologize :-( |
| agree |
Tania McConaghy
1 hr
|
|
Thanks :-)
|
|
| agree |
Jack Doughty
: Some doctors talk to patients this way. "How are we feeling this morning? Do we have a headache?"
1 hr
|
|
:-) Yes indeed! Thanks Jack.
|
|
| agree |
Ken Cox
: Or to rephrase my discussion comment, the 'we' here is the 'impersonal we', just as 'you' is often an 'impersonal you' in contemporary (US) English -- equivalent to the 'one' of bygone days.
2 hrs
|
|
Yes, that right! "Impersonal" is just right; I couldn't think of how to put it! Thanks Ken.
|
|
| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
: We is general - It means anyone in the whole world. The "you" at the beginning of the sentence is also general and includes anyone who reads this.
5 hrs
|
|
Exactly. Thanks Tina
|
|
| agree |
Demi Ebrite
8 hrs
|
|
Thanks :-)
|
Discussion
1. The author is a doctor and the intended audience consists of doctors, so the author is addressing colleagues.
2. The author is using 'politically correct' style, which means using either the first person ('we', or sometimes 'I') or the third person ('you') and avoiding the passive at all costs. As reader ('you') is not the person filling in the facts and the author is describing an abstract situation, the only option available is 'we'.