The language barrier between science and policy is as large and often underestimated as that between British and American English. Although most of the words are the same, they often carry different meaning. One good example of this is the term theory, which has caused much trouble for policy makers in relation to school curricula on evolution. However, there are many other words that have one specific meaning when used by scientists and another more common meaning in everyday use. Translation difficulties may also arise from the particular phraseology and writing conventions used by scientists. These are often more subtle but can create just as much, if not more, trouble in the soundbite world of mass media, especially in high-profile subject areas such as the effects of noise on marine mammals. Using an excerpt from a report in this subject area by the US National Research Council as a case study, the authors will provide some examples of where scientific language use can be misunderstood (and potentially even intentionally misused) by policy makers and stakeholders and offer some possible solutions to these issues. The intent is to facilitate communication between scientists and policy makers to order to improve management efforts.
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机译：科学与政策之间的语言障碍与英美英语之间的语言障碍一样大，而且常常被低估。尽管大多数单词是相同的，但它们通常具有不同的含义。一个很好的例子就是“理论”一词，它给决策者带来了与学校进化论课程相关的许多麻烦。但是，还有许多其他词在被科学家使用时具有一种特定的含义，而在日常使用中则具有另一种更常见的含义。翻译困难也可能源于科学家使用的特定用语和写作习惯。这些问题通常较为微妙，但在大众传媒的声音世界中，尤其是在引人注目的主题领域，如噪声对海洋哺乳动物的影响，也可能造成更多甚至更多的麻烦。作者使用美国国家研究委员会（National National Research Council）在该主题领域的报告摘录作为案例研究，作者将提供一些示例，说明决策者和利益相关者可能会误解（甚至可能有意滥用）科学语言，并提供一些建议。这些问题的可能解决方案。目的是促进科学家与决策者之间的沟通，以改善管理工作。
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