Helene Lieser · 1934
Helene Lieser’s 1934 review of the German–English second volume of K. T. Langguth’s Handwörterbuch des Finanzwesens combines practical endorsement with precise terminological corrections. She regards this volume as especially important for German-speaking users and frames her suggestions as improvements for a future edition.
Her central concern is that financial vocabulary convey the defining mechanism, not merely an approximate meaning:
In der Definition von „Schwundgeld“ fehlt das Kriterium fortwährender Wertverminderung dieses Geldes, durch die eben seine größere Umlaufgeschwindigkeit erzielt werden soll.
English translation: The definition of “depreciating money” omits the criterion of this money’s continual loss of value, through which its greater velocity of circulation is intended to be achieved.
Other corrections distinguish institutional names, commercial authority, and regional usage. Lieser substitutes “Austrian National Bank” for “Bank of Austria,” requests translations or explanations of Prokurist and Prokura, and questions whether the account of Konzertzeichner accords with Austrian usage. These examples make the review relevant to the difficulty of translating financial institutions and practices across jurisdictions.
Its closing judgment preserves the distinction between local defects and overall usefulness:
Es hat sich bei praktischer Benützung wirklich bewährt.
English translation: It has genuinely proved its worth in practical use.
The review thus moves from welcome, through targeted corrections, to a verdict grounded in actual use: terminological refinement would strengthen an already reliable reference work.
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