IED [improvised explosive device]

19:38 Oct 28, 2013 

necessarily needs to be specialized. The guy definitely knows what he's talking about, but the idea is that any Joe Doe... or any Pepe García... any average citizen more or less informed should be able to understand. The simpler and colloquial, the better, but a touch of "specialized" (not esoteric) talk is also in order. Thank you for all your views, and options... (all of them are absolutely valid)... hopefully I can make my mind fast, for this specific context... (It is going to be read on the screen, subtitles).

16:32 Oct 28, 2013 

You are absolutely right, and also the audience must be taken into consideration. Who will read the document? soldiers?, engineers?

16:25 Oct 28, 2013 

You may be right that the lay Spanish-speaker might not use the term, but then the speaker in the source is not a layperson either. What would a Spanish soldier who fought with ISAF say?

16:15 Oct 28, 2013 

Opino lo mismo que DLyons. Precisamente porque el tono del "testimonio" es el de una plática informal y una persona X en su lenguaje informal no va a decir el término correcto que es "artefacto exposivo improvisado", sencillamente no suena natural en la traducción. Para las personas que sufrieron los efectos de guerra en muchos países de América Latina, el término común y corriente es "bomba de fabricación casera". "Elementos del Ejército Mexicano, expertos en explosivos, lograron desactivar una bomba de fabricación casera que había sido colocada en una bodega de refrigerados..." http://www.dossierpolitico.com/vernoticiasanteriores.php?art...

23:37 Oct 27, 2013 

@ DLyons: Thank you, Donal. It is an idea, but looking at the references Taña gives, "bomba caminera" seems specialized enough and simple and short enough for my purposes.

23:17 Oct 27, 2013 

I'd say it's fairly informal - maybe "bomba de fabricación casera" would work.