Hello folks,

I’m an assistant editor in an Irish Language publishing house. I’m currently working on an Irish language edition of a physics textbook for the leaving certificate. I regularly come across very specific physics terms for which there are no current and authoritative forms in Irish. When trying to come up with an acceptable Irish translation for these terms it is crucial that we understand exactly what the basic term means in English, it is often those terms which might appear simplest at first glance that are most difficult to translate precisely. It is for this reason that I decided to try and find some kind of on-line forum where I could post queries on such terminology.

One of the terms that is frustrating me today is a piece of apparatus called a scaler timer.

My query here is what exactly is meant by 'scaler' in this case. Does it relate to the manner in which things are timed by this piece of apparatus, or to that which is being timed?

All comments will be greatly appreciated.

Muiris