We have today a number of versions in different languages of Terminologie de la traduction / Translation terminology, originally compiled in four languages by Jean Delisle, Hannelore Lee-Jahnke and Monique C. Cormier (1999). To assess how these versions were prepared, nine editors have been contacted by e-mail and asked to respond to a series of questions: How did they proceed to select the terms, to write their definitions, to insert the examples? In a paradoxical way, the answers do not seem to reflect a clear and thorough methodology. The metalanguage of translation is far from enjoying consensus and the way to reach an agreement is all but simple.